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PHONE  HARRISON  1741 


MAURICE  T.  W 

Income  Tax  Attoi 

53  WEST  JAO 

CH 


My  dear  Sir:- 

We  send  you  herewith  Woodro 
the  War,  "Americanism." 

A  few  years  ago,  our  hearts 
with  the  great  events  of  th 
now  nearly  forgotten  the  im 
to,  and  those  that  occurred 
in  the  War. 

Please  accept  this  token;  i 
feeling  of  esteem,  and  we  t 
ion  to  read  and  refer  to  it 

It  was  our  intention  to  sen 
but  due  to  the  income  tax  r 


CERTIFIED  PUBLIC 
ACCOUNTANTS 


NSHENK  &  CO. 

/s  and  Counsellors 

M  BOULEVARD 


Wilson's  Speeches  on 

nd  minds  were  occupied 
e   days.  Some  of  us  have 
[rtant  events  leading  up 
uring  our  participation 

lis  sent  to  you  with  a 

ist  that  you  will  have  occas- 

;ny  times. 

[you  this  book  last  month, 
;h  we  were  unable  to  do  so. 

! 

ery  truly  yours, 
MAURICE  T.  WEINSHENK  &  CO, 


AMERICANISM 

WOODROW  WILSON'S  SPEECHES  ON  THE  WAR 


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AMERICANISM 

Woodrow  Wilson's  Speeches  on 
the  War— Why  He  Made  Them 
— and — What  They  Have  Done 


The  President's  Principal  Utterances  in  the 
first  year  of  war;  with  notes,  comments  and 
war  dates,  giving  them  their  historical  setting, 
significance  and  consequences,  and  with  brief 
quotations  from  earlier  speeches  and  papers. 


Compiled,  Edited  and  Armotated 

BY 

OLIVER  MARBLE  GALE 


CHICAGO 

THE  BALDWIN  SYNDICATE 

PUBI,ISHKRS 


Copyrighted,  1918,  by  The  Baldwin  Syndicate 


The  Baldwin  Syndicate 
Chicago 


FOREWORD 


One  of  the  most  interesting  and  significant  facts  noted  in 
glancing  back  over  the  course  of  the  war  is  this:  The  Central 
Powers  have  been  getting  luorse  all  the  time  in  their  political 
morality,  and  the  Allies  have  been  getting  better. 

The  issue  between  them  is  now  perfectly  clear.  The  Central 
Powers  are  seen  to  be  fighting  for  the  glory  and  success  of  every- 
thing that  is  hateful  to  humanity.  The  Allies  know  that  they 
themselves  are  fighting  to  make  the  world  a  fit  place  to  live  in. 

The  issue  was  not  so  clear  at  first.  It  was  only  as  the  Allies 
came  to  realize  the  unbelievable  evil  that  Germany  stood  for  that 
their  own  purposes  were  purified  and  they  were  consecrated  to 
winning  the  war  for  the  sake  of  all  humanity. 

No  one,  perhaps,  has  done  so  much  to  bring  out  the  real  issue 
as  Woodrow  Wilson,  President  of  the  United  States.  His  calm, 
clear,  steady,  eloquent  statements  of  Allied  war  aims  and  peace 
purposes,  expressing  the  ideals  which  lay  in  the  hearts  of  free  men 
and  women  everywhere,  have  made  him  the  world's  accepted 
leader  in  the  war  for  world  democracy. 

The  addresses,  speeches  and  statements  that  have  changed  the 
face  of  history,  brought  him  this  leadership,  and  flung  a  peace- 
loving  nation  into  the  most  hideous  war  of  history  with  joyous, 
seflless  devotion,  are  printed  again  in  this  little  book,  available 
to  all.  They  are  accompanied  by  notes,  international  comments, 
and  a  chronology  of  military  and  political  war  events,  to  bring 
out  their  setting,  their  significence  and  their  consequences. 

Extracts  are  included  from  public  statements  made  by  Mr. 
Wilson  before  the  beginning  of  the  war  and  during  the  years  before 
our  entrance  into  it.  These  reveal  the  essential  democracy  of  the 
President,  and  the  unfoldment  of  the  new  Americanism. 

Possibly  nothing  could  recall  the  course  of  the  war  and  our 
own  attitude  towards  it  so  clearly  as  reading  in  retrospect  these 
words  of  Woodrow  Wilson. 

The  book  is  brought  down  to  include  the  President's  speech 
of  September  27,  1918,  delivered  in  New  York  at  the  opening 
of  the  Fourth  Liberty  Loan  campaign. 

October  i,  1918.  Oliver  ALarble  Gale. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


DEVELOPMENT 

BEFORE  WAR— Seed   Thoughts   of   World   Democracy    and   Peace 7 

NEUTRALITY— First    Interpretation   of  America's    World   Role 9 

PREPAREDNESS— The  Dawn  of  a   Fuller  Understanding  of   the   War..  12 

INTERVENTION— The  First  Steps  Into  a  World  Place 18 

"MUST  THIS  WAR  PROCEED  ?"— Peace  Note  to  the  Powers,  Decem- 
ber   18,   lyiG    18 

"A  PEACE  WORTH  PRESERVING"— Address  to  Congress  on  Essential 
Terms   of   Peace;    First   Statement   oi   America's   World    Stand — "The 

Peace   Without  Victory"   Speech,  January  22,   1917 22 

SUSPENSION    30 

"NO   ALTERNATIVE" — Address    to   Congress    Announcing    Severing    of 

Diplomatic  Relations   with   Germany,    February   3,   1917 30 

"WE  MUST  ARM  OUR  SHIPS"— Address  to  Congress  Asking  Power  to 
Arm  Merchant  Ships.  The  Armed  Neutrality  Address,  February  2U, 
1917     32 

THE  TESTING  TIME 
PARTICIPATION   36 

"THIS  IS  WAR"— Address  to  Congress  Asking  That  Germany  Be  De- 
clared at  War  With  the  United  States.  The  "Make  the  World 
Safe    for    Democracy"    Speech,    April    2,    1917 36 

"SPEAK,   ACT   AND   SERVE   TOGETHER"-An   Appeal    to    the    People 

for  Unity   and  Support,  April  16,   1917 46 

"LISTS  OF  HONOR"-Proclamation  of  the  First  Draft,  May  18,  1917..      51 

"WE  MUST  NOT  WEAKEN  NOW"-Message  to  Russia,  May  20,  1917.     52 

"A  NEW  GLORY  FOR  OUR  FLAG"— Flag  Day  Address   at   Baltimore, 

June   14,   1917    55 

"WE    MUST    LEAVE    SELFISHNESS    OUT"— An    Appeal    to    Business 

Men,  July  11,   1917 02 

"PEACE   IS   IMPOSSIBLE   NOW"-The  Reply   to   the   Pope,  August   27, 

1917    07 

A  MESSAGE  TO  THE  NATIONAL  ARMY— September  3,   1017 71 

THANKSGIVING  PROCLAMATION-November  7,  1917 73 

"LABOR  MUST  BE  FREE"— Address  to  American  Federation  of  Labor 

Convention   at    BuiTalo,    November    12,    1917 75 

"WIN  THE  WAR"— Address   to  Congress,  December  4,   1917 83 

"A  PLATFORM  OF  WORLD  PEACE"— Address  to  Congress,  January  S, 

1918  (Containing  the  "Fourteen  Peace  Planks") 95 

"ONLY    ONE   PEACE    POSSIBLE"— Address    to    Congress    Answering   a 

Peace  Offensive,   Feliruary   11,  191.8   (Containing  the  "Four   Points")    103 

"FORCE  TO  THE  UTMOST"-The  Baltimore  Address  of  April  0,  191<5.  .    Ill 

"TROOPS     WITHOUT     LIMIT"— Red     Cross     Address     in     New     York, 

May   20,   ]!il.s    117 

"WE  MUST  TRUST  EACH  OTHER"-TaIk  to  Visiting  Mexican  Edi- 
tors,   June    7,    I'.Jl.b 120 

"WE  SEEK  THE   REIGN   OF  LAW"-The    Fourth   of  July   Addres-;   at 

Mount  Vernon,  Stating   Four   Peace  Terms 12.") 

"IMPARTIAL  JUSTICE  IS  THE  PRICE  OF  PEACE"League  of  Na- 
tions Address,  Opening  4th  Liberty  Loan  Drive,  Embodying  Five 
Essentials  to  a  League,  New  York  City,  Sept.  27,   1918 13(i 


DEVELOPMENT 

(Brief  quotations  from  earlier  Presidential  papers,  and 

UP  TO  THE  TIME  OF  AmERICA'S  ENTRANCE  INTO  THE  WORLD  WaR, 

SHOWING  President  Wilson's  fundamental  democracy,  and 
the  developments  in  his  thought  upon  questions  of  neu- 
trality, preparedness  and  the  world  meaning  of  the  war. 
With  dates  of  leading  related  events.) 

BEFORE  WAR. 
NOVEMBER  4.  1912 — Woodrow  Wilson  Elected  President. 

MARCH  4,  1913 — Woodrow  Wilson  Inaugurated. 

{In  his  inaugural  address.  President  Wilson  sketched  out  the 
social  and  economic  program  which  he  conceived  the  Democratic 
party  had  been  called  into  power  to  carry  out.  The  concluding 
paragraphs  of  his  inaugural,  here  quoted,  give  a  high  light  on  his 
conception  of  the  obligation  and  opportunity  at  hand.) 

The  Nation  has  been  deeply  stirred,  stirred  by  a  solemn 
passion,  stirred  by  the  knowledge  of  wrong,  of  ideals  lost,  of 
government  too  often  debauched  and  made  an  instrument  of  evil. 
The  feelings  with  which  we  face  this  new  age  of  right  and  oppor- 
tunity sweep  across  our  heartstrings  like  some  air  out  of  God's 
own  presence,  where  justice  and  mercy  are  reconciled  and  the 
judge  and  the  brother  are  one.  We  know  our  task  to  be  no  mere 
task  of  politics  but  a  task  which  shall  search  us  through  and 
through  whether  we  be  able  to  understand  our  time  and  the  need 
of  our  people,  whether  we  be  indeed  their  spokesmen  and  inter- 
preters, whether  we  have  the  pure  heart  to  comprehend  and  the 
rectified  will  to  choose  our  high  course  of  action. 

This  is  not  a  day  of  triumph;  it  is  a  day  of  dedication. 
Here  muster,  not  the  forces  of  party,  but  the  forces  of  humanity. 
Men's  hearts  wait  upon  us;  men's  lives  hang  in  the  balance;  men's 
hopes  call  upon  us  to  say  what  we  will  do.  Who  shall  live  up 
to  the  great  trust?  Who  dares  fail  to  try?  I  summon  all  honest 
men,  all  patriotic,  all  forward-looking  men,  to  my  side.  God 
helping  me,  I  will  not  fail  them,  if  they  will  but  counsel  and 
sustain  me. 

7 


AMERICANISM 

APRIL  8,  1913 — President  Wilson  delivers  a  Special  Message 
ON  Tariff  Revision. 

{President  U  lis  on  addressed  Congress  in  person.  No  other 
president  since  John  Adams  had  done  this.  It  has  since  become  a 
common  practice  luith  him.  An  extract  illustrates  the  President's 
attitude  toward  this  subject  of  tariff.) 

.  .  .  we  have  built  up  a  set  of  privileges  and  exemptions 
from  competition  behind  which  it  was  easy  by  any,  even  the 
crudest,  forms  of  combination  to  organize  monopoly.  .  .  We 
must  abolish  everything  that  bears  even  the  semblance  of  privi- 
lege or  of  any  kind  of  artificial  advantage. 

MAY  26,  1913 — PRrsiDF.NX  Wilson  issues  a  Public  Warning 
Against  Lobbyists. 

(Certain  interests  ivere  attempting  unduly  to  influence  tariff 
legislation.  The  President  exposed  them  and  invoked  public  opinion, 
f.ohbying   stopped.) 

I  think  that  the  public  ought  to  know  the  extraordinary 
exertions  being  made  by  the  lobby  in  Washington  to  gain  recog- 
nition for  certain  alterations  of  the  Tariff  Bill.  Great  bodies  of 
astute  men  seek  to  create  an  artificial  opinion  and  to  overcome 
the  interests  of  the  public  for  their  private  profit.  .  .  Only 
public  opinion  can  check  and  destroy  it. 

JULY  4,  1913 — (Thirteen  months  before  the  War.)  Presi- 
dent Wilson  addresses  a  Reunion  of  G.  A.  R.  and  Con- 
federate \'eterans  at  Gett\sburg,  Pa. 

Here  is  a  great  people,  great  with  every  force  that  has  ever 
beaten  in  the  hfeblood  of  mankind.  And  it  is  secure.  There  is 
no  one  within  its  borders,  there  is  no  power  among  the  nations 
of  the  earth,  to  make  it  afraid. 

OCTOBER  27,  1913 — Presidext  Wilson  addisses  South frx 
Commercial  Conc.ress  at  Mobile,  Alabama. 

{Delegates  iiere  present  from  Soutli  and  Central  American 
countries.  President  Wilson  made  occasion  to  reassure  them  of 
our  just  friendship.  Mistrust  of  us  began  to  disappear  after  this 
address.     The  theme  of  it  is  given  lure.) 

Human  rights,  national  integrity,  and  opportunity  as  against 
material  interests — that,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  is  the  issre  which 
we  now  have  to  face. 

8 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

DECEMBER  2,  1913 — (Eight  months  before  the  War.)  Con- 
gress Convenes,  and  President  Wilson  delivers  his  First 
Annual  Message. 

The  countr}',  I  am  thankful  to  say,  is  at  peace  with  all  the 
world,  and  many  happy  manifestations  multiply  about  us  of  a 
growing  cordiality  and  sense  of  community  of  interest  among  the 
nations,  foreshadowing  an  age  of  settled  peace  and  good  will. 

JUNE  28,  1914 — Archduke  Francis  Ferdinand  of  Austria 
Assassinated  at  Serajevo,  Bosnia. 

AUGUST  1,  1914— World  War  Begins.-  Germans  Enter 
Belgium. 

AUGUST  4,  1914— England  Enters  War. 

NEUTRALITY'. 

AUGUST  19,  1914 — The  President  Proclaims  the  Neutral- 
ity OF  THE  United  States,  and  asks  Citizens  to  Respect 
It  in  Word,  Deed  and  Thought. 

{The  doctrine  of  America's  destiny  as  the  trustee  of  peace 
is  first  advanced  in  this  neutrality  proclamation.) 

I  suppose  that  every  thoughtful  man  in  America  has  asked 
himself,  during  these  last  ♦■roubled  weeks,  what  influence  the 
European  War  may  exert  upon  the  United  States.  This  great 
country  of  ours  should  show  herself  in  this  time  of  peculiar  trial 
a  Nation  fit  beyond  others  to  exhibit  the  fine  poise  of  undisturbed 
judgment,  the  dignity  of  self-control,  the  efficiency  of  dispassionate 
action.     .     . 

AUGUST  20,  1914— Germans  Enter  Brussels. 

AUGUST  26,  191-1 — Germans  Destroy  Louvain. 

SEPTEMBER  2,  1914— Russians  Capture  Lemberg. 

SEPTEMBER  2,  1914 — French  Government  Leaves  Paris; 
Germans  Still  Sweep  On, 

SEPTEMBER  6,  1914— Allies  Turn  the  Germans  Back  at 
the  Marne. 

9 


AMERICANISM 

SEPTEMBER   18,    1914— Germans   Bombard  Rheims  Cathe- 
dral. 

DECEMBER  8,  1914 — President  Wilson  Addresses  Congress 
Newly  Convened. 

{Another  enunciation  of  the  President's  doctrine  of  neutrality 
is  found  in  this  address.) 

We  are  at  peace  with  all  the  world.  No  one  .  .  .  can 
say  that  there  is  reason  to  fear  that  from  any  quarter  our  independ- 
ence or  the  integrity  of  our  territory  is  threatened.  .  .  We 
mean  to  live  our  own  lives  as  we  will ;  but  we  mean  also  to  let  live. 
We  are,  indeed,  a  true  friend  to  all  the  nations  of  the  world.  .  . 
IVe  are  the  champions  of  peace  and  of  concord.     .     . 

DECEMBER  9,  1914 — French  Government  Returns  to  Paris. 

FEBRUARY  12,  1915— Germans    Begin    to    Win     ix     East 
Prussia. 

FEBRUARY  19,  1915 — British  and  French  Fleets  Bombard 
the  Dardanelles  Forts. 

MARCH  10,  1915 — Battle  of  Neuve  Chappelle  Begins. 

MARCH  22,  1915— Russians  Capture  Przemvsl. 

APRIL  20,  1915 — President  Wilson  Addresses  the  Associated 
Press,  New  York  City. 

(A  neutrality  pronouncement.  Some  Ainericans  luere  not  con- 
vinced.) 

My  interest  in  the  neutrality  of  the  United  States  is  not  the 
petty  desire  to  keep  out  of  trouble.  .  .  But  1  am  interested  in 
neutrality  because  there  is  something  so  much  greater  to  do  than 
fight;  there  is  a  distinction  waiting  for  this  nation  that  no  nation 
has  ever  yet  got.  That  is  the  distinction  of  absolute  self-control 
and  self-mastery.  .  .  We  are  trustees  for  what  I  venture  to 
say  is  the  greatest  heritage  that  any  nation  ever  had,  the  love 
of  justice   and  righteousness  and  human  liberty. 

MAY  2,   1915 — Germans  Turn  Back  the  Russian  Tide  in 
East  Galicia. 

10 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

MAY  7,  1915 — LusiTANiA  Torpedoed. 

{Immense  excitement  followed.  Demands  for  war  at  once 
were  loud  and  insistent.) 

MAY    10,    1915 — President  Wilson   Addresses   a   Group   of 
Newly  Naturalized  Citizens  at  Philadelphia. 

{This  speech  contained  a  phrase  which  provoked  much  scorn.) 

There  is  such  a  thing  as  a  man  being  too  proud  to  fight.  There 
is  such  a  thing  as  a  nation  being  so  right  that  it  does  not  need 
to  convince  others  by  force  that  it  is  right. 

MAY    13,    1915 — President  Wilson    Sends   First   Lusitania 
Note. 

.     .     .     it  (the  United  States)  must  hold  the  Imperial  German 
Government  to  a  strict  accountability.     .     . 

First  Lusitania  Note. 

MAY  23,  1915— Italy  Goes  to  War. 

JULY  9,   1915 — President  Wilson  Sends  a  Second  Note  on 
the  Lusitania  Case. 

{Germany's  reply  set  up  the  defense  that  the  Lusitania  had 
been  armed.     The  second  note  placed  the  issue  on  broader  grounds.) 

The  Government  of  the  United  States  is  contending  for 
.  .  .  the  rights  of  humanity,  which  every  Government  honors 
itself  in  respecting.     .     . 

JULY  21,  1915 — President  Wilson  Dispatches  Another  Note 
to  Germany. 

{The  President's  third  note  obtained  a  promise  from  Ger- 
many to  sink  no  more  ships  without  warning.) 

Friendship  itself  prompts  it  to  say  to  the  Imperial  Govern- 
ment that  repetition  by  the  commanders  of  German  naval  vessels 
of  acts  of  contravention  of  those  rights  must  be  regarded  by  the 
Government  of  the  United  States,  when  they  affect  American  citi- 
zens, as  deliberately  unfriendly. 

AUGUST  4,  1915 — Germans,  Continually  Victorious  in  the 
East,  Occupy  Warsaw. 

AUGUST  6,  1915 — British  Land  at  Gallipoli. 

11 


AMERICANISM 

SEPTEMBER  8,  1915— Russians  Stop  Germans. 

SEPTEMBER  20,  1915— Teutons  Turn  on  Serbia. 

SEPTEMBER  25-30,  1915— Battle  of  Champagne. 

OCTOBER  9-10,  1915— Austro-Germans  Capture  Belgrade. 

OCTOBER  11,  1915 — President  Wilson  Addresses  the  Daugh- 
ters  of  the  AiMERICAN    REVOLUTION,    AT   WASHINGTON. 

{The  President  again  expounded  the  doctrine  of  American  neu- 
trality. There  was  a  growing  tendency  to  defer  to  his  patience 
and  trust  to   his  judgment.) 

.  .  .  We  stand  apart,  unembroiled,  conscious  of  our  own 
principles,  conscious  of  what  we  hope  and  purpose.  .  .  Ncu- 
tralitj'  is  a  negative  word.  It  is  a  word  that  does  not  express  what 
America  ought  to  feel.  .  .  We  are  not  tr\'ing  to  keep  out  of 
trouble;  we  are  trj'ing  to  preserve  the  foundations  upon  which 
peace  can  be  rebuilt. 

OCTOBER  12,  1915 — Edith     Cavell,    an    English     Nurse, 
Executed  as  a  Spy  by  the  Germans  at  Brussels. 

NOVEMBER,  1915 — Another    Winter    in    the    Trenches 
Certain. 

NOVEMBER  7,  1915— Italian  Liner  Ancona  Sunk. 

PREPAREDNESS 

NOVEMBER  11,  1915 — President  Wilson  Addresses  the  Man- 
hattan Club,  New  York  City. 

{President  Wilson  was  awakening  to  the  deeper  meanings  of 
the  JVorld  IVar.  This  address  contains  his  first  public  utterance 
upon  the  subject  of  preparedness.) 

.  .  .  we  believe,  we  passionately  believe,  in  the  right  of  every 
people  to  choose  their  own  allegiance  and  be  free  of  masters 
altogether. 

The   mission   of  America  in  the  world   is  essentially   a 
mission  of  peace  and  good  will  among  men. 

Within  a  year  we  have  witnessed  what  we  did  not  believe 
possible,  a  great  European  conflict  involving/  many  of  the  greatest 

12 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

nations  of  the  world.    The  influences  of  a  great  war  are  every- 
where in  the  air.     .     . 

No  thoughtful  man  feels  any  panic  haste  in  this  matter.  The 
country  is  not  threatened  from  any  quarter. 

.     .     .     Speak   in   terms   of   deepest   solemnity  of   the   urgency 
and  necessity  of  preparing  ourselves. 

DECEMBER  7,  1915— Congress  Convenes. 

{President  JVihon  went  before  Congress  and  asked  for  the 
greatest  navy  in  the  world,  and  laid  down  plans  for  a  citizen  army.) 

Since  I  last  had  the  privilege  of  addressing  you  on  the  state 
of  the  Union  the  war  of  nations  on  the  other  side  of  the  sea 
.  .  .  has  extended  its  threatening  and  sinister  scope  until  it 
has  swept  within  its  flame  some  portion  of  every  quarter  of  the 
globe,  not  excepting  our  own  hemisphere.     .     . 

We  have  stood  apart,  studiously  neutral  ...  it  was  neces- 
sary, if  a  universal  catastrophe  was  to  be  avoided,  that  a  limit 
should  be  set  to  the  sweep  of  destructive  war  and  that  some  part 
of  the  great  family  of  nations  should  keep  the  processes  of  peace 
alive. 

.  .  .  But  we  do  believe  in  a  body  of  free  citizens  ready  and 
sufficient  to  take  care  of  themselves  and  of  the  governments  which 
they  have  set  up  to  serve  them. 

DECEMBER  30,  1915— Liner  Persia  Torpedoed  in  the  Medi- 

TERRANIAN. 

JANUARY  1,  1916 — Allies  are  unable  to  progress  against 
the  Central  Powers.  The  Western  Front  is  a  dead- 
lock. Russia  is  held  firm.  Austro-Germans  are  over- 
running Serbia  and  Montenegro.    The  costly  failure 

AT  GaLLIPOLI  is  BECOMING  APPARENT.      SUBMARINES  ARE  VERY 

destructive,    a  dark  day  for  free  men. 

JANUARY  9,  1916 — British  Evacuate  Gallipoli  Peninsula. 

JANUARY  13,  1916 — Capital  of  Montenegro  Captured. 

JANUARY  23,  1916 — Capital  of  Albania  Captured. 

JANUARY  27  -  FEBRUARY  3,  1916— Preparedness  Speeches. 
{Six  weeks  after  his  preparedness  appeal  to  Congress,  Presi- 
dent  Wilson   made  a  tour   of  the  Middle   JVest  to  line   up   the 

13 


AMERICANISM 

country  for  preparedness.     Extracts  from  these  speeches  show   a 
growing  comprehension  of  the  German  threat.) 

If  there  is  one  passion  more  deep-seated  in  the  hearts  of  our 
fellow  countr3men  than  another,  it  is  the  passion  for  peace.     .     . 

But,  gentlemen,  there  is  something  that  the  American  people 
love  better  than  they  love  peace.  .  .  They  are  ready  at  any 
time  to  fight  for  the  vindication  of  their  character  and  of  their 
honor.     .     .     We  cannot  surrender  our  convictions. 

We  live  in  a  world  which  we  did  not  make,  which  we  cannot 
alter,  which  we  cannot  think  into  a  different  condition  from  that 
which  actually  exists. 

.  .  .  more  than  a  year  ago  ...  I  said  that  this  ques- 
tion of  military  preparedness  was  not  a  pressing  question.  But 
more  than  a  j'ear  has  gone  by  since  then  and  I  would  be  ashamed 
if  I  had  not  learned  something  in  fourteen  months.  The  minute 
I  stop  changing  my  mind  with  the  change  of  all  the  circumstances 
of  the  world,  I  will  be  a  back  number. 

I  cannot  tell  aou  what  the  international  relations  of  this 
country  will  be  tomorrow,  and  I  use  the  word  literally.     .     . 

(New  York  City.) 

The  world  is  on  fire,  and  there  is  tinder  everywhere.     .     . 

It  amazes  me  to  hear  men  speak  as  if  America  stood  alone 
in  the  world  and  could  follow  her  own  life  as  she  pleased.  We 
are  in  the  midst  of  a  world  that  we  did  not  make  and  cannot 
alter;  ...  I  must  tell  you  that  the  dangers  are  infinite  and 
constant.  .  .  new  circumstances  have  arisen  which  make  it 
absolutely  necessary  that  this  country  should  prepare  herself.     .     . 

(Pittsburg.  Pa.) 

.  .  .  let  me  tell  you  very  solemnly  you  cannot  afford  to 
postpone  this  thing.  I  do  not  know  what  a  single  day  may  bring 
forth. 

.  .  .  no  man  in  the  United  States  knows  what  a  single 
week  or  a  single  day  or  a  single  hour  may  bring  forth. 

(Clevkl.and,  Ohio) 

.  .  .  there  may  at  any  moment  come  a  time  when  I  can- 
not preserve  both  the  honor  and  the  peace  of  the  United  States. 

(Milwaukee.  Wis.) 

My  fellow  citizens,  you  may  be  called  upon  any  day  to  stand 
behind  me  to  maintain  the  honor  of  the  United  States. 

(Des  Moines,  Ia.) 

There  may  come  a  time — I  pray  God  it  may  never  come,  but 
it  may,  in  spite  of  everything  we  do,  come  upon  us,  and  come  of 
a  sudden — when  I  shall  have  to  ask:  "I  have  had  my  say;  who 
stands  back  of  me?"  (Kansas  City,  Mo.) 

14 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

FEBRUARY  22,  1916— German  Crown  Prince  Begins  Ver- 
dun Attack. 
(This  was  the  most  violent  and  dangerous  offensive  since  the 

first  German  onrush.     There  were  anxious  weeks  before  it  was 

finally  stopped.) 

MARCH  18-30,  1916 — Russians  Recover  Offensive  in  Riga 
Region. 

MARCH  24,  1916 — Sussex,  Channel  Passenger  Steamer,  Tor- 
pedoed with  Great  Loss  of  Life. 

APRIL  18,   1916 — President  Wilson  Sends  a  Note  to  Ger- 
many Upon  the  Sussex  Sinking. 

(The  President,  reminding  Germany  of  her  evil  record,  takes 
a  firm   stand.) 

Again  and  again  the  Imperial  Government  has  given  its  solemn 
assurances  to  the  Government  of  the  United  States  that  at  least 
passenger  ships  would  not  be  thus  dealt  with,  and  yet  it  has 
repeatedly  permitted  its  undersea  commanders  to  disregard  those 
assurances  with  entire  impunity. 

The  Government  of  the  United  States  has  been  very  patient. 
If  it  is  still  the  purpose  of  the  Imperial  Government  to  prose- 
cute relentless  and  indiscriminate  warfare  against  vessels  of  com- 
merce by  the  use  of  submarines  without  regard  to  what  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States  must  consider  the  sacred  and  indis- 
putable rules  of  international  law  and  the  universally  recognized 
dictates  of  humanity,  the  Government  of  the  United  States  is  at 
last  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  there  is  but  one  course  it  can 
pursue.  Unless  the  Imperial  Government  should  now  immediately 
declare  and  effect  an  abandonment  of  its  present  methods  of  sub- 
marine warfare  against  passenger  and  freight-carrying  vessels, 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  can  have  no  choice  but  to 
sever  diplomatic  relations  with  the  German  Empire  altogether. 
This  action  the  Government  of  the  United  States  contemplates 
with  the  greatest  reluctance  but  feels  constrained  to  take  in  behalf 
of  humanity  and  the  rights  of  neutral  nations. 

APRIL  19,  1916 — Special  IMessage  to  Congress  on  the  Sussex 

Sinking. 

( The  President  at  once  informed  Congress  of  the  stand  he 
had  taken  in  the  Sussex  matter.) 

.  .  .  But  we  cannot  forget  that  we  are  in  some  sort  and 
by   the   force  of   circumstances   the    responsible   spokesman   of  the 

15 


AMERICANISM 

rights  of  humanity,  and  that  we  cannot  remain  silent  while  those 
rights  seem  in  process  of  being  swept  utterly  away  in  the  mael- 
strom of  this  terrible  war. 

APRIL  24,  1916 — Easter  Insurrection  in  Dublin. 

MAY    4,    1916 — Germany    Again    Promises    to    Amend    Her 
Method  of  Submarine  Warfare. 

M.\Y  8.  1916 — Note  Dispatched  to  Germany,  Acknowledgino 
German\  's  Assurances. 

(This  was  the  final  submarine  note,  closing  the  discussion. 
All  now  depended  upon  Germany.) 

.  .  .  Accepting  the  Imperial  Government's  declaration  of 
its  abandonment  of  the  policy  which  has  so  seriously  menaced  the 
good  relations  between  the  two  countries,  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  will  rely  upon  a  scrupulous  execution  henceforth  of 
the  now  altered  policy  of  the  Imperial  Government.     .     . 

MAY  15,  1916 — AusTRiANS  Begin  Strong  Offensive  Agaixst 
Italians  in  the  Trentino. 

MAY    27,    1916 — Address    Before    the    League    to    Enforce 
Peace,  Washington. 

{This  address  is  prophetic  of  the  statements  of  America's 
ivar  aims,  subsequently  repeated  many  times,  and  noif  the  Allied 
object  of  the  war.) 

We  believe  these  fundamental  things:  First,  that  every  people 
has  a  right  to  choose  the  sovereignty  under  which  they  shall  live. 
Like  other  nations,  we  have  ourselves  no  doubt  once  and  again 
offended  against  that  principle  when  for  a  little  while  controlled 
by  selfish  passion,  as  our  franker  historians  have  been  honorable 
enough  to  admit;  but  it  has  become  more  and  more  our  rule  of 
life  and  action.  Second,  that  the  small  states  of  the  world  have 
a  right  to  enjoy  the  same  respect  for  their  sovereignty  and  for  their 
territorial  integrity  that  great  and  powerful  nations  expect  and 
insist  upon.  And.  third,  that  the  world  has  a  right  to  be  free 
from  every  disturbance  of  its  pence  that  has  its  origin  in  aggres- 
sion and  disregard  of  the  rights  of  peoples  and  nations. 

MAY  30,   1916— Remnant  or    Serbian  Army  joins  Allies  at 
Salon  iKi. 

16 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

MAY  31,  1916 — German  Main  Fleet  Comes  Out  and  is  De- 
feated Off  Jutland,  giving  the  Allies  Unchallenged 
Command  of  the  Sea,  Save  for  Submarines. 

JUNE  5,  1916 — Lord  Kitchener  Lost  with  Cruiser  Hamp- 
shire. 

JUNE  6,  1916 — Italians  Stop  Austrians  in  Trentino. 

JULY  1,  1916 — Great  Allied  Somme  Offensive  Begins. 

JULY  9,  1916 — Submarine  Deutschland  Arrives  in  America 
ON  its  First  Voyage, 

AUGUST  9,  1916— Italians  take  Goritz. 

AUGUST  28,  1916— RouMANiA  Enters  the  War. 

(One  of  the  greatest  tragedies  of  the  war.  Roumania,  under 
pressure  and  promise  from  Russia  and  urged  by  the  Allies,  feeling 
that  the  tide  had  safely  turned  against  Germany,  took  a  fatal  step. 
She  was  quickly  crushed.) 

SEPTEMBER  28.  1916— Venizelos,  Greek  Statesman  and 
Progressive,  Swings  Greece  into  Line  with  the  Allies. 

OCTOBER  13,  1916— Italians  Win  Victory  on  Carso 
Plateau. 

DECEMBER  12,  1916— Germany  Proposes  Peace  Negotia- 
tions. 

{Germany  felt  that  it  rvould  be  a  good  time  to  end  the  war. 
She  ivas  in  possession  of  Belgium  and  most  of  the  Balkans,  and 
held  a  slice  of  France.  The  Allied  offensive  on  the  JVestern 
front,  the  vigorous  and  brilliant  French  recovery  at  Verdun,  and 
Italian  activity  against  the  Austrians  had  shoivn  the  High  Com- 
mand that,  as  affairs  stood,  they  could  not  luin  by  arms  alone 
ivithout  a  high  cost.  So  an  attempt  was  made  to  bring  about  a 
peace  which  would  postpone  the  luar  until  Germany  could  gather 
herself  together  to  begin  again.  This  was  the  first,  but  not  the 
last,  of  the  "Peace  Offensives,"  as  they  have  come  to  be  called. 
Many  times  since  then  she  has  tried  to  pull  victory  out  of  the  fire 
by  psycliological  processes.     In  these  attempts  she  has  had  plenty 

17 


AMERICANISM 

of  assistance  in  enemy  nations,  some  of  it  deliberate  and  sinister, 
but  most  of  it  the  mistaken  infatuation  of  pacifists,  so  called,  and  of 
the  carelessly  ignorant.  This  present  attempt  took  the  form  of  a 
suggestion  that  delegates  from  the  belligerent  countries  meet  at  a 
neutral  point  and  discuss  possible  terms  of  peace.) 

INTERVENTION. 

DECEMBER   18,  1916— President  Wilson  Sends  a  Note  to 
THE  Belligerents  Asking  Them  to  State  Terms  "Upon 

WHICH  THE  WAR  MIGHT  BE  CONCLUDED." 

{President  Wilson's  prestige  was  at  a  loiv  ebb,  in  Europe 
at  least,  after  the  sending  of  this  note.  The  Allies  resented  a  sug- 
gestion that  they  abandon  the  war  ivhile  Germany  was  still  un- 
punished and  unrepentant.  (Germany  had  just  overrun  Roumania 
and  was  holding  firm  in  France  and  Belgium.)  It  luas  especially  un- 
fortunate, coming  so  closely  after  Germany's  attempts  to  secure  the 
spoils  of  outlawery  by  a  premature  and  patched  up  peace.  What 
was  regarded  as  a  suggestion  in  the  note  that  the  Allied  war  aims 
and  purposes  were  no  better  than  Germany's  gave  added  offense. 
At  home  opinion  ivas  confused  and  divided.  It  is  noiv  believed  by 
many  that  the  note  was  sent  because  the  ad?ninistration  realized  that 
America  was  on  the  brink  of  war  and  the  President  did  not  wish  it 
to  be  said  afterward  that  he  had  neglected  any  step  luhich  might 
honorably  have  averted  it.  Germany,  answering  vaguely,  proposed 
again  a  meeting  of  delegates.  The  Allies,  replying  through  France, 
doubted  whether  the  time  had  come  when  a  peace  of  lasting  benefit 
to  Europe  could  be  secured.  The  Allies'  terms,  hoivever,  ivere 
given  in  a  broad  way,  involving  restoration,  reparation,  rehabilita- 
tion and  guarantees.) 

"MUST  THIS  WAR  PROCEED?" 

A  Note  to  the  Belligerents  Asking  for  a  Definite  Stati- 

MENT  of  Peace  Terms. 

{Abridged) 

The  President  su2;2;ests  that  an  early  occasion  be  sought  to 
call  out  from  all  the  nations  now  at  war  such  an  avowal  of  their 
respective  views  as  to  the  terms  upon  which  the  war  might  be 
concluded  and  the  arrangements  which  would  be  deemed  satis- 
factory as  a  guaranty  against  its  renewal  or  the  kindling  of  any 
similar  conflict  in  the  future  as  would  make  it  possible  frankly 
to  compare  them. 

He  takes  the  liberty  of  calling  attention  to  the  fact  that  the 

18 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

objects,  which  the  statesmen  of  the  belligerents  on  both  sides  have 
in  mind  in  this  war,  are  virtually  the  same,  as  stated  in  general 
terms  to  their  own  people  and  to  the  world.  Each  side  desires 
to  make  the  rights  and  privileges  of  weak  peoples  and  small 
States  as  secure  against  aggression  or  denial  in  the  future  as  the 
rights  and  privileges  of  the  great  and  powerful  States  now  at 
war.  Each  wishes  itself  to  be  made  secure  in  the  future,  along 
with  all  other  nations  and  peoples,  against  the  recurrence  of  wars 
like  this  and  against  aggression  or  selfish  interference  of  any  kind. 
Each  would  be  jealous  of  the  formation  of  any  more  rival  leagues 
to  preserve  an  uncertain  balance  of  power  amid  multiplying  sus- 
picions; but  each  is  ready  to  consider  the  formation  of  a  league 
of  nations  to  insure  peace  and  justice  throughout  the  world.  Be- 
fore that  final  step  can  be  taken,  however,  each  deems  it  necessary 
first  to  settle  the  issues  of  the  present  Avar  upon  terms  which  will 
certainly  safeguard  the  independence,  the  territorial  integrity,  and 
the  political  and  commercial  freedom  of  the  nations  involved. 

The  President  therefore  feels  altogether  justified  in  suggest- 
ing an  immediate  opportunity  for  a  comparison  of  views  as  to  the 
terms  which  must  precede  those  ultimate  arrangements  for  the 
peace  of  the  world,  which  all  desire  and  in  which  the  neutral 
nations  as  well  as  those  at  war  are  ready  to  play  their  full  responsi- 
ble part.  //  the  contest  must  continue  to  proceed  toward  undefined 
ends  by  slow  attrition  until  the  one  group  of  belligerents  or  the 
other  is  exhausted;  if  million  after  million  of  human  lives  must 
continue  to  be  offered  up  until  on  the  one  side  or  the  other  there 
are  no  more  to  offer ;  if  resentments  must  be  kindled  that  can  never 
cool  and  despairs  engendered  from  which  there  can  be  no  recovery, 
hopes  of  peace  and  of  the  willing  concert  of  free  peoples  luill  be 
rendered  vain  and  idle. 

The  Objects  Have   Never   Been   Stated. 

The  life  of  the  entire  world  has  been  profoundly  affected. 
Every  part  of  the  great  family  of  mankind  has  felt  the  burden 
and  terror  of  this  unprecedented  contest  of  arms.  No  nation  in 
the  civilized  world  can  be  said  in  truth  to  stand  outside  its  influence 
or  to  be  safe  against  its  disturbing  effects.  And  yet  the  concrete 
objects  for  which  it  is  being  waged  have  never  been  definitively 
stated. 

The  leaders  of  the  several  belligerents  have,  as  has  been  said, 
stated  those  objects  in  general  terms.  But,  stated  in  general 
terms,  they  seem  the  same  on  both  sides.  Never  yet  hare  the 
authoritative  spokesmen  of  either  side  avoived  the  precise  objects 
ivhich  would,  if  attained,  satisfy    them    and  their  people  that   the 

19 


AMERICANISM 

war  had  been  fought  out.  The  world  has  been  left  to  conjecture 
what  definitive  results,  what  actual  exchange  of  guaranties,  what 
political  or  territorial  changes  or  readjustments,  what  stage  of 
military  success,  even,  would  bring  the  war  to  an  end. 

It  rci7L\  be  that  peace  is  nearer  than  we  know;  that  the  terms 
which  the  belligerents  on  the  one  side  and  on  the  other  would 
deem  it  necessar\'  to  insist  upon  are  not  so  irreconcilable  as  some 
liave  feared;  that  an  interchange  of  views  would  clear  the  way 
at  least  for  conference  and  make  the  permanent  concord  of  the 
nations  a  hope  of  the  Immediate  future,  a  concert  of  nations 
immediately  practicable. 

The  President  is  not  proposing  peace;  he  is  not  even  offering 
mediation.  He  is  merely  proposing  that  soundings  be  taken  in  order 
that  we  may  learn,  the  neutral  nations  with  the  belligerent,  how 
near  the  haven  of  peace  may  be  for  which  all  mankind  longs  with 
an  intense  and  increasing  longing.  He  believes  that  the  spirit  in 
which  he  speaks  and  the  objects  which  he  seeks  will  be  understood 
by  all  concerned,  and  he  confidently  hopes  for  a  response  which 
will  bring  a  new  light  into  the  affairs  of  the  world. 

Comments  ox   Peace  Note. 

Senator  If'eeks:    "Ill-timed  and  unwise." 

Senator  Stone:  "A  very  timely  proffer.  ...  It  is  the  begin- 
ning of  the  end." 

Frof.  Ellery  C.  Stouell,  Xeic-Yorkir  Sluats-Zeitung :  "The 
J'resident  has  chosen  the  psychological  moment." 

]'on  Berustorff :  "Now  I  am  positive  there  will  be  a  jjcacc 
conference." 

Neii'  York  Tribune:  "Now  American  influence  for  real  peace. 
for  just  peace,  is  abolished." 

New  York  Jtorld:  "It  cannot  be  ignored,  and  the  powers 
must  go  further  than  any  European  statesmen  have  yet  gone  in 
defining  the  objects  of  the  war  and  the  terms  of  peace.' 

Tagllsclie  Rundschau  (Germany)  :  "President  Wilson  is  actu- 
ated by  vanishing  profits  on  the  one  hand  and  the  fear  of  sub- 
marine warfare  on  the  other  hand." 

Clemenceau  in  L'Honune  Encliaine:  "The  moral  side  of  the 
w  ar  has  escaped  President  Wilson.  .  .  He  believes  himself  just 
u  hen  he  speaks  to  all  in  the  same  terms." 

Gustave  Hcrvc  in  /  ict^/n-f-:  "President  Wilson  has  delivered 
us  full  in  the  chest  the  greatest  blow,  the  most  dangerous  since 
Charleroi." 

20 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

London  Observer:  "A  memorable  mistake  has  been  made  at 
the  White  House.  That  mistake  jeopardizes  all  the  beneficient 
possibilities  of  the  role  which  might  have  been  and  may  still  be 
reserved  for  the  American  President  at  a  later  stage." 

L'Intransigeant:  "This  act  will  disarrange  the  sly  maneuver 
our  adversary  is  seeking  to  accomplish  at  this  time.  .  .  He  will 
not  be  able  to  escape  the  request  of  the  American  question." 

Montreal  Star:    "He  has  failed  to  see  the  moral  issue." 

Toronto  Globe:  "The  prevalent  tone  of  the  European  press 
is  one  of  polite  ridicule." 

DECEMBER  19,  1916— Lloyd  George  Makes  First  Speech  as 
New  Premier. 

{He  repudiated  the  German  peace  proposals,  asserting  Eng- 
land was  making  war  with  its  new  cabinet,  not  peace.) 

JANUARY  6-7,  1917— Allied  War  Conference  at  Rome. 

JANUARY    10,    1917 — France    Replies,    for    the    Allies,    to 
President  Wilson's  Note. 

JANUARY    18,    1917 — England   Replies,    Through    Arthur 
J.  Balfour,  Foreign  Secretary. 

{Mr.  Balfour's  reply,  supplemental  to  that  of  France,  sug- 
gested a  league  of  nations  to  prevent  hostilities  in  the  future.) 

JANUARY  22,   1917 — President  Wilson  Addresses  Congress 
ON  Terms  of  Peace. 

{President  Wilson  announced  to  the  world  a  basis  for  peace — 
and  the  only  basis — upon  which  the  United  States  could  join  ivith 
other  nations  to  take  part  in  keeping  the  world  henceforth  at  peace. 
It  was  the  first  statement  of  the  principles  tvhich  are  now  accepted 
as  the  basis  of  the  Allied  Peace  Platform.  This  address  icas 
cordially  received  everyivhere.  It  did  much  to  clarify  and  express 
Allied  thinking  upon  the  ivar,  and  to  prepare  American  thought  for 
u'hat  must  noiu  liave  seemed  inevitable  in  the  near  future — our 
entrance  into  the  war;  although  many  politicians  and  journalists 
called  it  a  Eutopian  dream,  and  many  felt  it  ivas  another  case  of 
impudent  intrusion.  This  was  the  famous  "Peace  without  Vic- 
tory" address — a  phrase  angrily  misunderstood  at  the  time.  On 
the  whole,  the  address  reinstated  President  Wilson  in  European 
regard,  and  proved  the  first  step  toward  that  impersonal  and  dis- 
interested world  leadership  which  is  noiu  accorded  him.) 

21 


AMERICANISM 

"A  PEACE  WORTH  PRESERVING." 

Address  to  the  Senate  on   Essential  Terms  of   Peace   in 

Europe. 
{Complete) 
Gentlemen  of  the  Senate: 

On  the  eighteenth  of  December  last  I  addressed  an  identic 
note  to  the  governments  of  the  nations  now  at  war  requesting 
them  to  state,  more  definitely  than  they  had  yet  been  stated  by 
either  group  of  belligerents,  the  terms  upon  which  they  would 
deem  it  possible  to  make  peace.  I  spoke  on  behalf  of  humanity 
and  of  the  rights  of  all  neutral  nations  like  our  own,  many  of 
whose  vital  interests  the  war  puts  in  constant  jeopardy.  The 
Central  Powers  united  in  a  reply  which  stated  merely  that  they 
were  ready  to  meet  their  antagonists  in  conference  to  discuss  terms 
of  peace.  The  Entente  Powers  have  replied  much  more  definitely 
and  have  stated,  in  general  terms,  indeed,  but  with  sufficient 
definiteness  to  imply  details,  the  arrangements,  guarantees,  and 
acts  of  reparation  which  they  deem  to  be  the  indispensable  condi- 
tions of  a  satisfactory  settlement.  We  are  that  much  nearer  a 
definite  discussion  of  the  peace  which  shall  end  the  present  war. 
We  are  that  much  nearer  the  discussion  of  the  international  con- 
cert which  must  thereafter  hold  the  world  at  peace.  In  every 
discussion  of  the  peace  that  must  end  this  war  it  is  taken  for 
granted  that  that  peace  must  be  followed  by  some  definite  concert 
of  power  which  will  make  it  virtually  impossible  that  any  such 
catastrophe  should  ever  overwhelm  us  again.  Every  lover  of  man- 
kind, every  sane  and  thoughtful  man  must  take  that  for  granted. 

I  have  sought  this  opportunity  to  address  you  because  I 
thought  that  I  owed  it  to  you,  as  the  council  associated  with  me  in 
the  final  determination  of  our  international  obligations,  to  disclose 
to  you  without  reserve  the  thought  and  purpose  that  have  been 
taking  form  in  my  mind  in  regard  to  the  duty  of  our  Govern- 
ment in  the  days  to  come  when  it  will  be  necessary  to  lay  afresh 
and  upon  a  new  plan  the  foundations  of  peace  among  the  nations. 

America's   Part   in    Peace. 

It  is  inconceivable  that  the  people  of  the  United  States  should 
play  no  part  in  that  great  enterprise.  To  take  part  in  such  a 
service  will  be  the  opportunity  for  which  they  have  sought  to  pre- 
pare themselves  by  the  very  principles  and  purposes  of  their  polity 
and  the  approved  practices  of  their  Government  ever  since  the 
days  when  they  set  up  a  new  nation  in  the  high  and  honourable 
hope  that  it  might  in  all  that  it  was  and  did  show  mankind  the 

22 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

way  to  liberty.  They  cannot  in  honour  withold  the  service  to 
which  they  are  now  about  to  be  challenged.  They  do  not  wish  to 
withhold  it.  But  they  owe  it  to  themselves  and  to  the  other 
nations  of  the  world  to  state  the  conditions  under  which  they  will 
feel  free  to  render  it. 

That  service  is  nothing  less  than  this,  to  add  their  authority 
and  their  power  to  the  authority  and  force  of  other  nations  to 
guarantee  peace  and  justice  throughout  the  world.  Such  a  settle- 
ment cannot  now  be  long  postponed.  It  is  right  that  before  it 
comes  this  Government  should  frankly  formulate  the  conditions 
upon  which  it  would  feel  justified  in  asking  our  people  to  approve 
its  formal  and  solemn  adherence  to  a  League  for  Peace.  I  am 
here  to  attempt  to  state  those  conditions. 

The  present  war  must  first  be  ended;  but  we  owe  it  to  candor 
and  to  a  just  regard  for  the  opinion  of  mankind  to  say  that,  so  far 
as  our  participation  in  guarantees  of  future  peace  is  concerned, 
it  makes  a  great  deal  of  difference  in  what  way  and  upon  what 
terms  it  is  ended.  The  treaties  and  agreements  which  bring  it 
to  an  end  must  embody  terms  which  will  create  a  peace  that 
is  worth  guaranteeing  and  preserving,  a  peace  that  will  win  the 
approval  of  mankind,  not  merely  a  peace  that  will  serve  the 
several  interests  and  immediate  aims  of  the  nations  engaged. 
We  shall  have  no  voice  in  determining  what  those  terms  shall 
be,  but  we  shall,  I  feel  sure,  have  a  voice  in  determining  whether 
they  shall  be  made  lasting  or  not  by  the  guarantees  of  a  uni- 
versal covenant,  and  our  judgment  upon  what  is  fundamental  and 
essential  as  a  condition  precedent  to  permanency  should  be  spoken 
now,  not  afterwards  when  it  may  be  too  late. 

No  covenant  of  cooperative  peace  that  does  not  include  the 
peoples  of  the  New  World  can  suffice  to  keep  the  future  safe 
against  war;  and  yet  there  is  only  one  sort  of  peace  that  the 
peoples  of  America  could  join  in  guaranteeing.  The  elements  of 
that  peace  must  be  elements  that  engage  the  confidence  and  satisfy 
the  principles  of  the  American  governments,  elements  consistent 
with  their  political  faith  and  with  the  practical  convictions  which 
the  peoples  of  America  have  once  for  all  embraced  and  under- 
taken to  defend. 

No  Nation  May  Cast  Down  Peace 

I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  any  American  government  would 
throw  any  obstacle  in  the  way  of  any  terms  of  peace  the  govern- 
ments now  at  war  might  agree  upon,  or  seek  to  upset  them  when 
made,  whatever  they  might  be.  I  only  take  it  for  granted  that 
mere   terms  of   peace   between   belligerents   will   not   satisfy  even 

23 


AMERICANISM 

the  belligerents  themselves.  Mere  agreements  may  not  make  peace 
secure.  It  will  be  absolutel}'  necessary  that  a  force  be  created  as 
a  guarantor  of  the  permanency  of  the  settlement  so  much  greater 
than  the  force  of  any  nation  now  engaged  or  any  alliance  hitherto 
formed  or  projected  that  no  nation,  no  probable  combination  of 
nations,  could  face  or  withstand  it.  If  the  peace  presently  to  be 
made  is  to  endure,  it  must  be  a  peace  made  secure  by  the  organ- 
ized  major    force  of  mankind. 

The  terms  of  immediate  peace  agreed  upon  will  determine 
whether  it  is  a  peace  for  which  such  a  guarantee  can  be  secured. 
The  question  upon  which  the  whole  future  peace  and  policy  of 
the  world  depends  is  this:  Is  the  present  war  a  struggle  for  a 
just  and  secure  peace,  or  only  for  a  new  balance  of  power?  If 
it  be  only  a  struggle  for  a  new  balance  of  power,  who  will  guar- 
antee, who  can  guarantee,  the  stable  equilibrium  of  the  new 
arrangement?  Only  a  tranquil  Europe  can  be  a  stable  Europe. 
There  must  be,  not  a  balance  of  power,  but  a  community  of  power; 
not  organized  rivalries,  but  an  organized  common  peace. 

Fortunately  we  have  received  very  explicit  assurances  on  this 
point.  The  statesmen  of  both  the  groups  of  nations  now  arrayed 
against  one  another  have  said,  in  terms  that  could  not  be  misin- 
terpreted, that  it  was  no  part  of  the  purpose  they  had  in  mind 
to  crush  their  antagonists.  But  the  implications  of  these  assur- 
ances may  not  be  equally  clear  to  all — may  not  be  the  same  on 
both  sides  of  the  water.  I  think  it  will  be  serviceable  if  I  attempt 
to   set  forth   what  we  understand  them  to  be. 

"Peace  Without  Victory." 

They  imply,  first  of  all,  that  It  must  be  a  peace  without  vic- 
tory. It  is  not  pleasant  to  say  this.  I  beg  that  I  may  be  per- 
mitted to  put  my  own  interpretation  upon  it  and  that  it  may  be 
understood  that  no  other  interpretation  was  in  my  thought.  I 
am  only  seeking  to  face  realities  and  to  face  them  without  soft 
concealments.  V^ictory  would  mean  peace  forced  upon  the  loser, 
a  victor's  terms  imposed  upon  the  vanquished.  It  would  be  ac- 
cepted In  humiliation,  under  duress,  at  an  intolerable  sacrifice, 
and  v.ould  leave  a  sting,  a  resentment,  a  bitter  memory  upon  which 
terms  of  peace  would  rest,  not  permanently,  but  only  as  upon 
quicksand.  Only  a  peace  between  equals  can  last.  Only  a  peace 
the  very  principle  of  which  is  equality  and  a  common  participation 
In  a  common  benefit.  The  right  state  of  mind,  the  right  feeling 
between  nations.  Is  as  necessary  for  a  lasting  peace  as  is  the  just 
settlement  of  vexed  questions  of  territory  or  of  racial  and  national 
allegiance. 

24 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

The  equality  of  nations  upon  which  peace  must  be  founded 
if  it  is  to  last  must  be  an  equality  of  rights;  the  guarantees  ex- 
changed must  neither  recognize  nor  imply  a  difference  between 
big  nations  and  small,  between  those  that  are  powerful  and  those 
that  are  weak.  Right  must  be  based  upon  the  common  strength, 
not  upon  the  individual  strength,  of  the  nations  upon  whose  con- 
cert peace  will  depend.  Equality  of  territory  or  of  resources  there 
of  course  cannot  be;  nor  any  other  sort  of  equality  not  gained  in 
the  ordinary  peaceful  and  legitimate  development  of  the  peoples 
themselves.  But  no  one  asks  or  expects  anything  more  than  an 
equality  of  rights.  Mankind  is  looking  now  for  freedom  of  life, 
not  for  the  equipoises  of  power. 

A  Democratic  Peace. 

And  there  is  a  deeper  thing  involved  than  even  equality  of 
right  among  organized  nations.  No  peace  can  last,  or  ought  to 
last,  which  does  not  recognize  and  accept  the  principle  that  gov- 
ernments derive  all  their  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the 
governed,  and  that  no  right  anywhere  exists  to  hand  peoples  about 
from  sovereignty  to  sovereignty  as  if  they  luere  property.  I  take 
it  for  granted,  for  instance,  if  I  may  venture  upon  a  single  exam- 
ple, that  statesmen  everywhere  are  agreed  that  there  should  be 
a  united,  independent,  and  autonomous  Poland,  and  that  hence- 
forth inviolable  security  of  life,  of  luorship,  and  of  industrial  and 
social  development  should  be  guaranteed  to  all  peoples  who  have 
lived  hitherto  under  the  poiver  of  governments  devoted  to  a  faith 
and  purpose  hostile  to  their  own. 

I  speak  of  this,  not  because  of  any  desire  to  exalt  an  abstract 
political  principle  which  has  always  been  held  very  dear  by  those 
who  have  sought  to  build  up  liberty  in  America,  but  for  the  same 
reason  that  I  have  spoken  of  the  other  conditions  of  peace  which 
seem  to  me  clearly  indispensable — because  I  wish  frankly  to  un- 
cover realities.  Any  peace  which  does  not  recognize  and  accept 
this  principle  will  be  inevitably  upset.  It  luill  not  rest  upon  the 
affections  or  the  convictions  of  mankind.  The  ferment  of  spirit 
of  whole  populations  will  fight  subtly  and  constantly  against  it, 
and  all  the  ivorld  will  sympathize.  The  world  can  be  at  peace 
only  if  its  life  is  stable,  and  there  can  be  no  stability  where  the 
ivill  is  in  rebellion,  where  there  is  not  tranquility  of  spirit  and  a 
sense  of  justice,  of  freedom,  and  of  right. 

Some  Essential  Features  of  Peace. 

So  far  as  practicable,  moreover,  every  great  people  now  strug- 
gling towards  a  full  development  of  its  resources  and  of  its  powers 

25 


AMERICANISM 

should  be  assured  a  direct  outlet  to  the  great  highways  of  the 
sea.  Where  this  cannot  be  done  by  the  cession  of  territory,  it 
can  be  done  by  the  neutralization  of  direct  rights  of  way  under 
the  general  guarantee  which  will  assure  the  peace  itself.  With 
a  right  comity  of  arrangement  no  nation  need  be  shut  away  from 
free  access  to  the  open  paths  of  the  world's  commerce. 

And  the  paths  of  the  sea  must  alike  in  law  and  in  fact  be 
free.  The  freedom  of  the  seas  is  the  sine  qua  non  of  peace,  equal- 
ity, and  cooperation.  No  doubt  a  somewhat  radical  reconsider- 
ation of  many  of  the  rules  of  international  practice  hitherto 
thought  to  be  established  may  be  necessary  in  order  to  make  the 
seas  indeed  free  and  common  in  practically  all  circumstances  for 
the  use  of  mankind,  but  the  motive  for  such  changes  is  convincing 
and  compelling.  There  can  be  no  trust  or  intimacy  between  the 
peoples  of  the  world  without  them.  The  free,  constant,  unthreat- 
ened  intercourse  of  nations  is  an  essential  part  of  the  process  of 
peace  and  development.  It  need  not  be  difficult  either  to  define 
or  to  secure  the  freedom  of  the  seas  if  the  governments  of  the 
world  sincerely  desire  to  come  to  an  agreement  concerning  it. 

It  is  a  problem  closely  connected  with  the  limitation  of  naval 
armaments  and  the  cooperation  of  the  navies  of  the  world  in 
keeping  the  seas  at  once  free  and  safe.  And  the  question  of  lim- 
iting naval  armaments  opens  the  wider  and  perhaps  more  difficult 
question  of  the  limitation  of  armies  and  of  all  programmes  of 
military  preparation.  Difficult  and  delicate  as  these  questions  are. 
they  must  be  faced  with  the  utmost  candor  and  decided  in  a  spirit 
of  real  accommodation  if  peace  is  to  come  with  healing  in  its 
wings,  and  come  to  stay.  Peace  cannot  be  had  w^ithout  concession 
and  sacrifice.  There  can  be  no  sense  of  safety  and  equality  among 
the  nations  if  great  preponderating  armaments  are  henceforth  to 
continue  here  and  there  to  be  built  up  and  maintained.  The  states- 
men of  the  world  must  plan  for  peace  and  nations  must  adjust 
and  accommodate  their  policy  to  it  as  they  have  planned  for  war 
and  made  ready  for  pitiless  contest  and  rivalry.  The  question 
of  armaments,  whether  on  land  or  sea,  is  the  most  immediately 
and  intensely  practical  question  connected  with  the  future  fortunes 
of  nations  and  of  mankind. 

I  Speak  for  all  Friends  of  Humanity. 

I  have  spoken  upon  these  great  matters  without  reserve  and 
with  the  utmost  explicitness  because  it  has  seemed  to  me  to  be 
necessary  if  the  world's  yearning  desire  for  peace  was  anywhere 
to  find  free  voice  and  utterance.  Perhaps  I  am  the  only  person 
in   high   authority   amongst   all  the  peoples   of  the   world  who   is 

26 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

at  liberty  to  speak  and  hold  nothing  back.  I  am  speaking  as  an 
individual,  and  yet  I  am  speaking,  also,  of  course,  as  the  respon- 
sible head  of  a  great  government,  and  I  feel  confident  that  I  have 
said  what  the  people  of  the  United  States  would  wish  me  to  say. 
May  I  not  add  that  I  hope  and  believe  that  I  am  in  effect  speak- 
ing for  liberals  and  friends  of  humanity  in  every  nation  and  of 
every  programme  of  liberty?  I  would  fain  believe  that  I  am 
speaking  for  the  silent  mass  of  mankind  everywhere  who  have 
as  yet  had  no  place  or  opportunity  to  speak  their  real  hearts  out 
concerning  the  death  and  ruin  they  see  to  have  come  already  upon 
the  persons  and  the  homes  they  hold  most  dear. 

And  in  holding  out  the  expectation  that  the  people  and  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States  will  join  the  other  civilized  nations 
of  the  world  in  guaranteeing  the  permanence  of  peace  upon  such 
terms  as  I  have  named  I  speak  with  the  greater  boldness  and 
confidence  because  it  is  clear  to  every  man  who  can  think  that 
there  is  in  this  promise  no  breach  in  either  our  traditions  or  our 
policy  as  a  nation,  but  a  fulfilment,  rather,  of  all  that  we  have 
professed  or  striven  for. 

The  Monroe  Doctrine  of  the  World. 

I  am  proposing,  as  it  were,  that  the  nations  should  with  one 
accord  adopt  the  doctrine  of  President  Monroe  as  the  doctrine 
of  the  world:  that  no  nation  should  seek  to  extend  its  polity  over 
any  other  nation  or  people,  but  that  every  people  should  be  left 
free  to  determine  its  own  policy,  its  own  way  of  development, 
unhindered,  unthreatened,  unafraid,  the  little  along  with  the  great 
and  powerful. 

I  am  proposing  that  all  nations  henceforth  avoid  entangling 
alliances  which  would  draw  them  into  competitions  of  power; 
catch  them  in  a  net  of  intrigue  and  selfish  rivalry,  and  disturb 
their  own  affairs  with  influences  intruded  from  without.  There 
is  no  entangling  alliance  in  a  concert  of  power.  When  all  unite 
to  act  in  the  same  sense  and  with  the  same  purpose  all  act  in  the 
common  interest  and  are  free  to  live  their  own  lives  under  a  com- 
mon protection. 

/  am  proposing  government  by  the  consent  of  the  governed; 
that  freedom  of  the  seas  which  in  international  conference  after 
conference  representatives  of  the  United  States  have  urged  with 
the  eloquence  of  those  who  are  the  convinced  disciples  of  liberty; 
and  that  moderation  of  armaments  which  makes  of  armies  and 
navies  a  power  for  order  merely,  not  an  instrumerit  of  aggression 
or  of  selfish  violence. 

27 


AMERICANISM 

These  are  American  principles,  American  policies.  We  could 
stand  for  no  others.  And  they  are  also  the  principles  and  policies 
of  forvvard-looking  men  and  women  everywhere,  of  every  modern 
nation,  of  every  enlightened  communitj'.  They  are  the  principles 
of  mankind  and  must  prevail. 

Comments  ox   Address   ox   Essential   Peace   Terms. 

New  York  Times:  "By  one  bold  stroke  President  Wilson 
removes  the  obstacles  to  world  peace  guaranteed  by  the  world." 

New  York  JVorld:  "Our  own  belief  is  that  President  Wilson 
has  enunciated  the  broad  principles  of  liberty  and  justice  upon 
which   alone  a  durable  peace   is  possible." 

Jf'ashingtnn  Post:  "It  constitutes  a  shining  ideal,  seemingly 
unattainable  when  passions  rule  the  world,  but  embodying,  never- 
theless, the  hopes  of  nations,  large  and  small." 

Cleveland  Plain  Denier:  "President  Wilson  has  already  ex- 
erted a  great  influence  promotive  of  peace.  His  strongest  card 
he  played  before  the  Senate  Monday." 

Philadelphia  Public  Ledger:  "President  Wilson's  address  to 
the  Senate  was  inspired  by  lofty  idealism,  and  voiced  the  aspiration 
of  the  whole  world  for  a  lasting  peace,  founded  on  justice  and 
liberty." 

Indianapolis  Star:  "Xobody  knows  uhither  this  bold  and  puz- 
zling step  may  lead." 

St.  Louis  Globe-Democrat:  "It  is  either  a  monumental  mis- 
take or  an  act  that  will  fill  a  flaming  page  in  history." 

Toronto  Globe:  "President  Wilson  has  not  aided  the  cause 
of  peace  in  Europe  by  intervention  at  this  stage." 

Providence  Journal:  "Mr.  Wilson  beckons  the  suffering  na- 
tions of  the  world  toward  him  with  his  schoolmaster's  cane,  and 
delivers  a  prize  oration  on  the  millennium,  while  the  civilization 
and  the  liberty  of  the  world  are  battling  for  life  in  the  shambles 
of  a  hundred  bloody  fields." 

Netv  York  Herald:  "When  President  Wilson  emerges  from 
the  dreamland  of  his  fancy  and  essays  to  deal  with  the  cold  hard 
facts  of  a  situation  which  finds  great  nations  grappling  for  a 
righteous  peace,  he  shows  that  a  proper  realization  of  the  senti- 
ments impelling  those  people  to  sacrifice  their  all  for  liberty  has 
no  more  found  its  way  into  the  secluded  cloisters  of  the  Wliite 
House  than  has  a  real  understanding  of  the  sentiments  of  the 
American  people." 

28 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

Boston  Transcript:  "He  seems  to  have  been  forced  by  the 
flash  of  events  to  the  solemn  conclusion  that  he  is  the  keeper  of 
the  conscience  of  the  world  not  only,  but  also  the  exclusive  if  not 
the  ordained  moral  spokesman  of  mankind." 

London  Times:  The  Times  refers  to  "the  high  and  daring 
character  of  his  pacifist  ideals  together  with  the  prudence  and 
caution  of  his  policy.  ..."  It  asserts  that  "his  project  is  noth- 
ing less  ambitious,  less  splendid  than  the  establishment  of  a  per- 
petual and  universal  reign  of  peace."  Continuing  it  says:  "The 
Times  believes  that  President  Wilson  is  the  first  statesman  who 
has  proposed  as  a  practical  policy  what  has  been  the  'dream  of 
many  thinkers  for  a  great  number  of  centuries.'  " 

London  Chronicle:  "The  extreme  elevation  of  the  moral  tone 
.  .  .  will  command  the  unqualified  respect  of  those  forward- 
looking,  liberty-loving  elements  of  all  nations  to  which  he  frankly 
makes  his   appeals." 

Manchester  Guardian:  "It  is  a  splendid  policy,  nobly  ex- 
pressed. How  will  it  be  received?  By  people  ever3'where  we  can- 
not doubt  joyfully  and  with  clear  perception  .  .  .  The  mass  of 
the  nation  will  do  well  to  see  that  their  rulers  render  them  every 
possible  favor  and   support." 

London  Globe:  "We  must  at  your  bidding  lay  down  our  arms 
and  dream  with  you  jour  foolish  drearr.  of  peace." 

L'Hiimanite:  "The  most  incomparably  splendid  historic  mon- 
ument that  has  been  given  to  the  world  since  our  immortal  Decla- 
ration of  the  Rights  of  Man  and  of  Citizens." 

L'Information:  "It  will  find  a  profound  echo  in  the  soul  of 
France." 

Le  Figaro:  "His  message  will  prove  a  violent  shock  to  the 
horrible  theory  of  Pan-Germanism." 

Gustave  Herve  in  Victoire:  "What  a  pity  it  is  this  masterly 
page  of  social  philosophy  is  marred  and  almost  disfigured  by  those 
three  little  words:    'Peace  without  victory.'  " 

Echo  de  Paris:  "This  declaration  moves  in  the  serene  domain 
of  theories." 

Le  Journal:  "President  Wilson  is  haunted  with  the  fixed  idea 
of  inaugurating  the  golden  age  of  universal  brotherhood." 

JANUARY  26,  1917— Russian  Foreign  Office  Announces 
THAT  President  Wilson's  Speech  on  Essential  Peace 
Terms  "has  made  a  most  favorable  impression  upon 
the  Russian  Government." 

29 


AMERICANISM 

Jx-WUARY  31,  1917 — Germany  announces  Ruthless  U-boat 
Warfare,  to  begin  the  following  day. 

SUSPENSION. 

FEBRUARY  3,   1917 — Diplomatic  Relations  with  Germany 
broken. 

FEBRUARY  3,  1917— U.  S.  S.  Housatonic  Sunk. 

FEBRUARY  3,  1917 — President  Wilson  addresses  Congress. 
{In  this  address  President  Wilson  stated  that  diplomatic  re- 
lations had  been  broken  off,  and  told  why.  He  still  professed  to 
maintain  hope  that  Germany  would  respect  American  rights.  This 
was  the  first  "German  People"  speech,  suggesting  the  doctrine, 
now  abandoned  by  all  but  a  few  pacifists,  doubtless,  that  the  Ger- 
man people  ivere  driven  to  war  by  an  autocracy  which  left  them 
no  other  choice,  and  that  they  would  accept  an  opportunity  to 
escape  from  their  masters  if  a  friendly  hand  should  make  it  pos- 
sible. It  ivas  not  then  so  fully  comprehensible  that  the  only  hand 
the  Germans  can  understand,  as  yet,  is  the  hand  of  force — their 
own  kind  of  a  hand.) 

"NO  ALTERNATIVE." 

Address  Announcing  the  Severance  of  Diplomatic  Relations. 

{Abridged) 
Gentlemen  of  the  Congress: 

The  Imperial  German  Government  on  the  thirty-first  of  Jan- 
uary announced  to  this  Government  and  to  the  governments  of  the 
other  neutral  nations  that  on  and  after  the  first  day  of  February, 
the  present  month,  it  would  adopt  a  policy  with  regard  to  the 
use  of  submarines  against  all  shipping  seeking  to  pass  through  cer- 
tain designated  areas  of  the  high  seas  to  which  it  is  clearly  my 
duty  to  call  your  attention, 

{Here  the  President  presents  a  summary  of  the  submarine 
case  against  Germany,  quoting  from  notes  and  records.) 

I  think  that  you  will  agree  with  me  that,  in  view  of  this  dec- 
laration, which  suddenly  and  without  prior  intimation  of  any  kind 
deliberately  withdraws  the  solemn  assurance  given  in  the  Imperial 
Government's  note  of  the  fourth  of  May,  1916,  this  Government 
has  no  alternative  consistent  with  the  dignity  and  honor  of  the 
United    States  but   to   take    the   course   which,   in   its   note    of   the 

30 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

18th  of  April,  1916,  it  announced  that  it  would  take  in  the  event 
that  the  German  Government  did  not  declare  and  effect  an  aban- 
donment of  the  methods  of  submarine  w^arfare  which  it  was  then 
employing  and  to  which  it  now  purposes  again  to  resort. 

Relations  Severed. 

I  have,  therefore,  directed  the  Secretary  of  State  to  announce 
to  His  Excellency  the  German  Ambassador  that  all  diplomatic 
relations  between  the  United  States  and  the  German  Empire  are 
severed,  and  that  the  American  Ambassador  at  Berlin  will  imme- 
diately be  withdrawn;  and,  in  accordance  with  this  decision, 
to  hand  to  His  Excellency  his  passports. 

Notwithstanding  this  unexpected  action  of  the  German  Gov- 
ernment, this  sudden  and  deeply  deplorable  renunciation  of  its 
assurances,  given  this  Government  at  one  of  the  most  critical  mo- 
ments of  tension  in  the  relations  of  the  two  governments,  /  refuse 
to  believe  that  it  is  the  intention  of  the  German  authorities  to  do 
in  fact  what  they  have  warned  us  they  will  feel  at  liberty  to  do. 
I  cannot  bring  myself  to  believe  that  they  will  indeed  pay  no  re- 
gard to  the  ancient  friendship  between  their  people  and  our  own 
or  to  the  solemn  obligations  which  have  been  exchanged  between 
them  and  destroy  American  ships  and  take  the  lives  of  American 
citizens  in  the  wilful  prosecution  of  the  ruthless  naval  programme 
they  have  announced  their  intention  to  adopt.  Only  actual  overt 
acts   on    their  part  CAN    MAKE   ME   BELIEVE   IT   EVEN    NOW. 

H  this  inveterate  confidence  on  my  part  in  the  sobriety  and 
prudent  foresight  of  their  purpose  should  unhappily  prove  un- 
founded ;  if  American  ships  and  American  lives  should  in  fact  be 
sacrificed  by  their  naval  commanders  in  heedless  contravention  of 
the  just  and  reasonable  understandings  of  international  law  and 
the  obvious  dictates  of  humanity.  I  shall  take  the  liberty  of  coming 
again  before  the  Congress,  to  ask  that  authority  be  given  me  to 
use  any  means  that  may  be  necessary  for  the  protection  of  our 
seamen  and  our  people  in  the  prosecution  of  their  peaceful  and 
legitimate  errands  on  the  high  seas.  I  can  do  nothing  less.  1 
take  it  for  granted  that  all  neutral  governments  will  take  the 
same  course. 

Friends  of  the  German  People. 

l^e  do  not  desire  any  hostile  conflict  with  the  German  Impe- 
rial Government.  JVe  are  the  sincere  friends  of  the  German 
people  and  earnestly  desire  to  remain  at  peace  luith  the  Govern- 
ment ivhich  speaks  for  them.  We  shall  not  believe  that  they  are 
hostile  to  us  unless  and  until  we  are  obliged  to  believe  it;  and  we 

31 


AMERICANISM 

purpose  nothing  more  than  the  reasonable  defense  of  the  undoubted 
rights  of  our  people.  We  wish  to  serve  no  selfish  ends.  We  seek 
merely  to  stand  true  alike  in  thought  and  in  action  to  the  immemo- 
rial principles  of  our  people  which  1  sought  to  express  in  my 
address  to  the  Senate  only  two  weeks  ago, — seek  merely  to  vindi- 
cate our  right  to  liberty  and  justice  and  an  unmolested  life. 
These  are  the  bases  of  peace,  not  war.  God  grant  we  may  not 
be  challenged  to  defend  them  by  acts  of  wilful  injustice  on  the 
part  of  the  Government  of  Germany! 

FEBRUARY  17,  1917 — First  week's  submarine  toll — 58  ves- 
sels SUNK,   OF  WHICH   21    WERE  NEUTRAL. 

FEBRUARY  26.  1917— British  Advance  in  Asia-Minor;  Cap- 
ture Kut-el-Amara. 

FEBRUARY  26,  1917 — President  Wilson  .addresses  Congress. 

(This  is  known  as  The  Armed  Neutrality  Address.  Presi- 
dent IVilson  asked  Congress  for  authority  to  ar?n  merchant  ves- 
sels. He  had  noiv  given  up  hope  of  a  change  in  Germany's  U-boat 
policy.  Americans^  including  women  and  children,  had  been  lost 
in  the  ruthless  ivarfare.  Ambassador  Gerard  had  been  held  as 
hostage  in  Berlin,  but  finally  permitted  to  go  to  Switzerland. 
Meanwhile  American  shipping  had  stagnated  because  owners  icere 
umvilUng  to  risk  unarmed  ships  in  the  U-boat  danger  zone.  This 
request  for  poiver  to  arm  ships  met  ivith  the  resistance  of  "the 
little  group  of  wilful  men"  in  the  Senate.  All  this  time  clamor 
for  IV ar  grew.  People  were  becoming  impatient  with  the  Presi- 
dent's patience:  ivhile  he  evidently  was  carefully  exhausting  every 
possibility  of  averting  war — not  so  much  to  escape  it,  as  to  make 
all  the  world  see  that,  when  it  should  come,  it  luas  inevitable.) 

"WE   MUST  ARM  OUR  SHIPS.  " 

Armed  Neutrality-  Address  Delivered  to  the  Congress  Feb- 
ruary 3,   1917. 

{Abridged) 

.  .  .  It  must  be  admitted  that  there  have  been  certain 
additional  indications  and  expressions  of  purpose  on  the  part  of 
the  German  press  'and  the  German  authorities  which  have  increased 
rather  than  lessened  the  impression  that,  if  our  ships  and  our 
people  are  spared,  it  will  be  because  of  fortunate  circumstances 
or  because  the  commanders  of  the  German  submarines  which  they 

32 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

may  happen  to  encounter  exercise  an  unexpected  discretion  and 
restraint  rather  than  because  of  the  instructions  under  which  these 
commanders  are  acting.  It  would  be  foolish  to  deny  that  the 
situation  is  fraught  with  the  gravest  possibilities  and  dangers.  No 
thoughtful  man  can  fail  to  see  that  the  necessity  for  definite  action 
may  come  at  any  time,  if  we  are  in  fact,  and  not  in  word  merely, 
to  defend  our  elementary  rights  as  a  neutral  nation.  It  would  be 
most  imprudent  to  be  unprepared. 

Armed  Neutrality. 

No  one  doubts  what  it  is  our  duty  to  do.  We  must  defend 
our  commerce  and  the  lives  of  our  people  in  the  midst  of  the 
present  trying  circumstances,  with  discretion  but  with  clear  and 
steadfast  purpose.  Only  the  method  and  the  extent  remain  to 
be  chosen,  upon  the  occasion,  if  occasion  should  indeed  arise.  Since 
it  has  unhappily  proved  impossible  to  safeguard  our  neutral  rights 
by  diplomatic  means  against  the  unwarranted  infringements  they 
are  suffering  at  the  hands  of  Germany,  there  may  be  no  recourse 
but  to  armed  neutrality,  which  we  shall  know  how  to  maintain 
and  for  which  there  is  abundant  American  precedent. 

It  is  devoutly  to  be  hoped  that  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  put 
armed  force  anjwhere  into  action.  The  American  people  do  not 
desire  it,  and  our  desire  is  not  different  from  theirs.  I  am  sure 
that  they  will  understand  the  spirit  in  which  I  am  now  acting,  the 
purpose  I  hold  nearest  my  heart  and  would  wish  to  exhibit  in 
everything  I  do.  I  am  anxious  that  the  people  of  the  nations  at 
war  also  should  understand  and  not  mistrust  us.  I  hope  that  I 
need  give  no  further  proofs  and  assurances  than  I  have  already 
given  throughout  nearly  three  years  of  anxious  patience  that  I 
am  the  friend  of  peace  and  mean  to  preserve  it  for  America  so 
long  as  I  am  able.  I  am  not  now  proposing  or  contemplating  war 
or  any  steps  that  need  lead  to  it.  I  merely  request  that  you  will 
accord  me  by  your  own  vote  and  definite  bestowal  the  means  and 
the  authority  to  safeguard  in  practice  the  right  of  a  great  people 
who  are  at  peace  and  who  are  desirous  of  exercising  none  but  the 
rights  of  peace  to  follow  the  pursuits  of  peace  in  quietness  and  good 
will — rights  recognized  time  out  of  mind  by  all  the  civilized  nations 
of  the  world.  No  course  of  my  choosing  or  of  theirs  will  lead 
to  war.  War  can  only  come  by  the  wilful  acts  and  aggressions 
of  others. 

You  will  understand  why  I  can  make  no  definite  proposals 
or  forecasts  of  action  now  and  must  ask  for  your  supporting 
authority  in  the  most  general  terms.  I  request  that  you  will 
authorize  me  to  supply  our  merchant  ships  with  defensive   arms. 


AMERICANISM 

should  that  become  necessary,  and  with  the  means  of  using  them, 
and  to  employ  any  other  instrumentalities  or  methods  that  may 
be  necessary  and  adequate  to  protect  our  ships  and  our  people 
in  their  legitimate  and  peaceful  pursuits  on  the  seas. 

The  Rights  of  Humanity  Are  at  Stake. 

I  have  spoken  of  our  commerce  and  of  the  legitimate  errands 
of  our  people  on  the  seas,  but  you  will  not  be  misled  as  to  my 
main  thought,  the  thought  that  lies  beneath  these  phrases  and 
gives  them  dignity  and  weight.  It  is  not  of  material  interests 
merely  that  we  are  tliinking.  It  is,  rather,  of  fundamental  human 
rights,  chief  of  all  the  rights  of  life  itself.  I  am  thinking,  not 
only  of  the  rights  of  Americans  to  go  and  come  about  their  proper 
business  by  way  of  the  sea,  but  also  of  sotnething  much  deeper, 
much  more  fundamental  than  that.  I  am  thinking  of  those  rights 
of  humanity  without  which  there  is  no  civilization.  My  theme 
is  of  those  great  principles  of  compassion  and  of  protection  which 
mankind  has  sought  to  throw  about  human  lives,  the  lives  of 
non-combatants,  the  lives  of  men  ivho  are  peacefully  at  work 
keeping  the  industrial  processes  of  the  world  quick  and  vital,  the 
lives  of  women  and  children  and  of  those  who  supply  the  labor 
which  ministers  to  their  sustenance,  ffe  are  speaking  of  no 
selfish  material  rights  but  of  rights  which  our  hearts  support  and 
li'hose  foundation  is  that  righteous  passion  for  justice  upon  which 
all  law,  all  structures  alike  of  family,  of  state',  and  of  mankind 
must  rest,  as  upon  the  ultimate  base  of  our  existence  and  our 
liberty.  I  cannot  imagine  any  man  with  American  principles  at 
heart  hesitating  to  defend  these  things. 

FEBRUARY  28,  1917— Associated  Press  publishes  V'ox  Zim- 

MER.MANN     NOTE    TO   THE    GeRMAN    AMBASSADOR    IN    MeXICO, 
PROPOSING  THAT   MeXICO  AND  JapAN    UNITE  WITH   GERMANY 

Against  the  United  States,  AIexico  to  be  Rewarded  with 
New  Mexico,  Texas  and  Arizona. 

MARCH  3.  1917 — Allied  Spring  Offensive  Begins  on  West- 
ern Front  with  Advance  of  British  Near  Bapaume. 

MARCH  4,  1917 — President  Wilson  issues  a  statement  re- 
buking certain  senators. 

{A  bill  introduced  in  response  to  the  President's  address, 
giving  him  the  authority  he  had  requested  to  arm  ships,  ivas 
blocked  in  the  Senate,  and  failed  to  get  through  before  the  session 

34 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

came  to  a  close,  March  3.  President  Wilson  immediately  called 
a  special  session,  to  convene  April  2,  and  issued  a  statement  rebuk- 
ing those  who  had  opposed  defensive  measures.) 

A  little  group  of  wilful  men,  representing  no  opinion  but 
their  own,  have  rendered  the  great  government  of  the  United 
States  helpless  and  contemptible. 

MARCH  4,  1917 — President  Wilson  Inaugurated  Quietly, 

THE   DAY   BEING    SUNDAY. 

{In  his  second  inaugural,  delivered  the  next  day.  President 
Wilson  pointed  out  that  the  wnrld-zvar  was  compelling  the  United 
States  to  take  part  in  world  affairs.  .  .  "fCe  are  provincials  no 
longer.  .  .  Events  .  .  .  have  made  us  citizens  of  the 
world" — and  restated  essential  terms  of  peace  and  international 
comity.) 

MARCH  10,  1917 — President  Wflson  orders  merchant  ships 
TO  arm,  finding  sufficient  authority  in  his  general 
powers. 

MARCH  11,  1917 — Russian  Revolution  begins  in  food  riots. 

MARCH  11,  1917— British  capture  Bagdad. 

MARCH  13,  1917 — German  Lines  on  the  Western  Front 
Begin  to  Feel  the  Pressure  of  the  Allied  Spring  Offen- 
sive, the  Germans  Retiring  from  West  of  Bapaume. 

MARCH  15,  1917 — Czar  Nicholas  Abdicates  the  Russian 
Throne. 

MARCH  17,  1917 — British  Capture  Bapaume;  French  Take 
Roye  and  Lassigny. 

MARCH  18,  1917 — Germans  make  great  "strategic  retreat/' 
retiring  on  85-mile  front,  .abandoning  Peronne, 
Chaulnes,  Nesle  and  No'sox.  Allies  advance  line. 
Arras  to  Soissons,  to  depth  of  12  miles  and  retake  60 
villages. 

{This  retreat  was  accompanied  by  a  wanton,  vicious  destrui- 
tton    beyond   comparison   ivith   anything   in   history.) 


AMERICANISM 

THE  TESTING  TIME 

APRIL  2,  1917 — Congress  assembles  in  special  session. 

PARTICIPATION. 

APRIL  2,    1917 — President  Wilson  makes   his  famous  war 
ADDRESS  TO  Congress. 

{Congress  had  assefnbled  on  this  day  in  special  session  called 
by  the  President.  Fall  elections  had  left  the  Democrats  without 
a  majority  in  the  House,  but  independents  gave  them  control.  In 
the  evening  President  U  ilson  unexpectedly  appeared  and  quietly 
asked  the  Congress  to  declare  Germany's  course  ivar  against  the 
United  States.  Hope  was  now  abandoned.  Germany  stood  revealed 
This  ivas  JJdson's  first  war  speech;  tlie  first  of  the  long 
series  of  lucid,  trenchant  indictments  of  Germany,  pitilessly  just, 
which  have  united  the  thought  and  purpose  of  the  nation  and  re- 
enforced  the  determination  of  the  Allies  to  destroy  autocracy. 
It  was  received  with  acclaim  throughout  the  Allied  world,  both 
because  of  the  entrance  of  a  great  and  just  neutral  nation  into  war, 
and  because  of  the  high  moral  tone  which  JFoodroiu  JVilson's 
statement  gave  to  this  entrance.  This  is  the  "Alake  the  Jf'orld 
Safe  for  Democracy"  speech — a  famous  and  unique  battle-cry 
of  nations.) 

"THIS  IS  WAR." 

President  Wilson's  War  Address,  Delivkred  to  the  Congress 
April  2,  1917. 

(Complete) 

Gentlemen  of  the  Coni^ress: 

I  have  called  the  Congress  into  extraordinar)'  session  because 
there  are  serious,  very  serious,  choices  of  policy  to  be  made,  and 
made  immediately,  which  it  was  neither  right  nor  constitutionally 
permissible  that  I  should  assume  the  responsibility  of  making. 

On  the  third  of  February  last  I  officially  laid  before  you  the 
extraordinary  announcement  of  the  Imperial  German  Government 
that  on  and  after  the  first  day  of  February  it  was  its  purpose  to 
put  aside  all  restraints  of  law  or  of  humanity  and  use  its  sub- 
marines to  sink  every  vessel  that  sought  to  approach  either  the 
ports  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  or  the  western  coasts  of 
Europe  or  any  of  the  ports  controlled  by  the  enemies  of  Germany 

.16 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

within  the  Mediterranean.  That  had  seemed  to  be  the  object  of 
the  German  submarine  warfare  earlier  in  the  war,  but  since 
April  of  last  year  the  Imperial  Government  had  somewhat  re- 
strained the  commanders  of  its  undersea  craft  in  conformity  with 
its  promise  then  given  to  us  that  passenger  boats  should  not  be 
sunk  and  that  due  warning  would  be  given  to  all  other  vessels 
which  its  submarines  might  seek  to  destroy,  when  no  resistance 
was  offered  or  escape  attempted,  and  care  taken  that  their  crews 
were  given  at  least  a  fair  chance  to  save  their  lives  in  their  open 
boats.  The  precautions  taken  were  meager  and  haphazard  enough, 
as  was  proved  in  distressing  instance  after  instance  in  the  progress 
of  the  cruel  and  unmanly  business,  but  a  certain  degree  of  re- 
straint was  observed.  The  new  policy  has  swept  every  restriction 
aside.  Vessels  of  every  kind,  whatever  their  flag,  their  character, 
their  cargo,  their  destination,  their  errand,  have  been  ruthlessly 
sent  to  the  bottom  without  warning  and  without  thought  of  help 
or  mercy  for  those  on  board,  the  vessels  of  friendly  neutrals  along 
zuith  those  of  belligerents.  Even  hospital  ships  and  ships  carrying 
relief  to  the  sorely  bereaved  and  stricken  people  of  Belgium, 
though  the  latter  were  provided  with  safe  conduct  through  the 
proscribed  areas  by  the  German  Government  itself  and  were  dis- 
tinguished by  unmistakable  marks  of  identity,  have  been  sunk  ii'itli 
the  same  reckless  lack  of  compassion   or  of  principle. 

A  Warfare  Against   Mankind. 

I  was  for  a  little  while  unable  to  believe  that  such  things 
would  in  fact  be  done  by  any  government  that  hitherto  subscribed 
to  the  humane  practices  of  civilized  nations.  International  law 
had  its  origin  in  the  attempt  to  set  up  some  law  which  would  be 
respected  and  observed  upon  the  seas,  where  no  nation  had  right 
of  dominion  and  where  lay  the  free  highways  of  the  world.  By 
painful  stage  after  stage  has  that  law  been  built  up,  with  meager 
enough  results,  indeed,  after  all  was  accomplished  that  could  be 
accomplished,  but  always  with  a  clear  view,  at  least,  of  what 
the  heart  and  conscience  of  mankind  demanded.  This  minimum 
of  right  the  German  Government  has  swept  aside  under  the  plea 
of  retaliation  and  necessity  and  because  it  had  no  weapons  which 
it  could  use  at  sea  except  these  which  it  is  impossible  to  employ 
as  it  is  employing  them  without  throwing  to  the  winds  all  scruples 
of  humanity  or  of  respect  for  the  understandings  that  were  sup- 
posed to  underlie  the  intercourse  of  the  world.  I  am  not  now 
thinking  of  the  loss  of  property  involved,  immense  and  serious  as 
that  is,  but  only  of  the  wanton  and  wholesale  destruction  of  the 
lives  of  non-combatants,   men,  women,    and   children,   engaged   in 

37 


AMERICANISM 

pursuits  which  have  always,  even  in  the  darkest  periods  of  modern 
history,  been  deemed  innocent  and  legitimate.  Property  can  be 
paid  for ;  the  lives  of  peaceful  and  innocent  people  cannot  be.  The 
present  German  submarine  warfare  against  commerce  is  a  war- 
fare against  mankind. 

It  is  a  war  against  all  nations.  American  ships  have  been 
sunk,  American  lives  taken,  in  ways  which  it  has  stirred  us  very 
deeply  to  learn  of,  but  the  ships  and  people  of  other  neutral  and 
friendly  nations  have  been  sunk  and  overwhelmed  in  the  waters  in 
the  same  way.  There  has  been  no  discrimination.  The  challenge 
is  to  all  mankind.  Each  nation  must  decide  for  itself  how  it  will 
meet  it.  The  choice  we  make  for  ourselves  must  be  made  with  a 
moderation  of  counsel  and  a  temperateness  of  judgment  befitting 
our  character  and  our  motives  as  a  nation.  We  must  put  excited 
feeling  away.  Our  motive  will  not  be  revenge  or  the  victorious 
assertion  of  the  physical  might  of  the  nation,  but  only  the  vindica- 
tion of  right,  of  human  right,  of  which  we  are  only  a  single 
champion. 

Armed  Neutrality  is  Not  Enough. 

When  I  addressed  the  Congress  on  the  twenty-sixth  of  Febru- 
ary last  I  thought  that  it  would  suffice  to  assert  our  neutral  rights 
with  arms,  our  right  to  use  the  seas  against  unlawful  interference, 
our  right  to  keep  our  people  safe  against  unlawful  violence.  But 
armed  neutrality,  it  now  appears,  is  im.practicable.  Because  sub- 
marines are  in  effect  outlaws  when  used  as  the  German  sub- 
marines have  been  used  against  merchant  shipping,  it  is  impossible 
to  defend  ships  against  their  attacks  as  the  law  of  nations  has 
assumed  that  merchantmen  v/ould  defend  themselves  against 
privateers  or  cruisers,  visible  craft  giving  chase  upon  the  open 
sea.  It  is  common  prudence  in  such  circumstances,  grim  neces- 
sity indeed,  to  endeavor  to  destroy  them  before  they  have  shown 
their  own  intention.  They  must  he  dealt  with  upon  sight,  if  dealt 
with  at  all.  The  German  Government  denies  the  right  of  neutrals 
to  use  arms  at  all  within  the  areas  of  the  sea  which  it  has  pro- 
scribed, even  in  the  defense  of  rights  which  no  modern  publicist 
has  ever  before  questioned  their  right  to  defend.  The  intimation 
is  conveyed  that  the  armed  guards  which  we  have  placed  on  our 
merchant  ships  will  be  treated  as  beyond  the  pale  of  lav>'  and 
subject  to  be  dealt  with  as  pirates  would  be.  Armed  neutrality 
is  ineffectual  enough  at  best;  in  such  circumstances  and  in  the 
face  of  such  pretensions  it  is  worse  than  ineffectual;  it  is  likely 
only  to  produce  what  it  was  meant  to  prevent;  it  is  practicallv 
certain  to  draw  us  into  the  war  without  either  the  rights 
or  the  effectiveness  of  belligerents.     There  is  one  choice  we  cannot 

38 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

make,  we  are  incapable  of  making:  we  will  not  choose  the  path 
of  submission  and  suffer  the  most  sacred  rights  of  our  nation  and 
our  people  to  be  ignored  or  violated.  The  wrongs  against  which 
we  now  array  ourselves  are  no  common  wrongs:  they  cut  to  the 
very  roots  of  human  life. 

Let  Us  Accept  the  Challenge  to  War. 

With  a  profound  sense  of  the  solemn  and  even  tragical  charac- 
ter of  the  step  I  am  taking  and  of  the  grave  responsibilities  which 
it  involves,  but  in  unhesitating  obedience  to  what  I  deem  my  con- 
stitutional duty,  1  advise  that  the  Congress  declare  the  recent 
course  of  the  Imperial  German  Government  to  be  in  fact  nothing 
less  than  war  against  the  government  and  people  of  the  United 
States;  that  it  formally  accept  the  status  of  belligerent  which  has 
thus  been  thrust  upon  it;  and  that  it  take  immediate  steps  not  only 
to  put  the  country  in  a  more  thorough  state  of  defense  but  also  to 
exert  all  its  power  and  employ  all  its  resources  to  bring  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  German  Empire  to  terms  and  end  the  war. 

What  this  will  involve  is  clear.  It  will  involve  the  utmost 
practicable  cooperation  in  counsel  and  action  with  the  govern- 
ments now  at  war  with  Germany,  and,  as  incident  to  that,  the 
extension  to  those  governments  of  the  most  liberal  financial 
credits,  in  order  that  our  resources  may  so  far  as  possible  be 
added  to  theirs.  It  will  involve  the  organization  and  mobilization 
of  all  the  material  resources  of  the  country  to  supply  the  materials 
of  war  and  serve  the  incidental  needs  of  the  nation  in  the  most 
abundant  and  yet  the  most  economical  and  efficient  way  possible. 
It  will  involve  the  immediate  full  equipment  of  the  navy  in  all 
respects  but  particularly  in  supplying  it  with  the  best  means  of 
dealing  with  the  enemy's  submarines.  It  will  involve  the  immediate 
addition  to  the  armed  forces  of  the  United  States  already  provided 
for  by  law  in  case  of  war  at  least  five  hundred  thousand  men, 
who  should,  in  my  opinion,  be  chosen  upon  the  principle  of  uni- 
versal liability  to  service,  and  also  the  authorization  of  subsequent 
additional  increments  of  equal  force  so  soon  as  they  may  be 
needed  and  can  be  handled  in  training.  It  will  involve  also,  of 
course,  the  granting  of  adequate  credits  to  the  Government,  sus- 
tained, I  hope,  so  far  as  they  can  equitably  be  sustained  by  the 
present  generation,  by  well  conceived  taxation. 

I  say  sustained  so  far  as  may  be  equitable  by  taxation  because 
it  seems  to  me  that  it  would  be  most  unwise  to  base  the  credits 
which  will  now  be  necessary  entirely  on  money  borrowed.  It  is 
our  duty,  I  most  respectfully  urge,  to  protect  our  people  so  far 
as   we   may   against   the  very  serious  hardships   and   evils  which 

39 


AMERICANISM 

would  be  likely  to  arise  out  of  the  inflation  which  would  be  pro- 
duced by  vast  loans. 

In  carrying  out  the  measures  by  which  these  things  are  to  be 
accomplished  we  should  keep  constantly  in  mind  the  wisdom  of 
interfering  as  little  as  possible  in  our  own  preparation  and  in  the 
equipment  of  our  own  military  forces  with  the  duty, — for  it  will 
be  a  very  practical  duty, — of  supplying  the  nations  already  at  war 
with  Germany  with  the  materials  which  they  can  obtain  only  from 
us  or  by  our  assistance.  They  are  in  the  field  and  we  should  help 
them  in  every  way  to  be  effective  there. 

I  shall  take  the  liberty  of  suggesting,  through  the  several 
executive  departments  of  the  government,  for  the  consideration 
of  your  committees,  measures  for  the  accomplishment  of  the 
several  objects  I  have  mentioned.  I  hope  that  it  will  be  your 
pleasure  to  deal  with  them  as  having  been  framed  after  very  care- 
ful thought  by  the  branch  of  the  Government  upon  which  the 
responsibility  of  conducting  the  war  safeguarding  the  nation  will 
most  directly  fall. 

Let  Us  Make  Our  Objects  Clear. 

While  we  do  these  things,  these  deeply  momentous  things,  let 
us  be  very  clear,  and  make  very  clear  to  all  the  world  what  our 
motives  and  our  objects  are.  My  own  thought  has  not  been 
driven  from  its  habitual  and  normal  course  by  the  unhappy  events 
of  the  last  two  months,  and  I  do  not  believe  that  the  thought  of 
the  nation  has  been  altered  or  clouded  by  them.  I  have  exactly 
the  same  things  in  mind  now  that  I  had  in  mind  when  I  addressed 
the  Senate  on  the  twenty-second  of  January  last;  the  same  that  I 
had  in  mind  when  I  addressed  the  Congress  on  the  third  of  Febru- 
ary and  on  the  twenty-sixth  of  February.  Our  object  now,  as 
then,  is  to  vindicate  the  principles  of  peace  and  justice  in  the  life 
of  the  world  as  against  selfish  and  autocratic  power  and  to  set  up 
amongst  the  really  free  and  self-governed  peoples  of  the  ivorld 
such  a  concert  of  purpose  and  of  action  as  tuill  henceforth  ensure 
the  observance  of  those  principles.  Neutrality  is  no  longer  feasible 
or  desirable  zvhere  the  peace  of  the  ivorld  is  involved  and  the 
freedom  of  its  peoples,  and  the  menace  to  that  peace  and  freedom 
lies  in  the  existence  of  autocratic  governments  backed  by  organ- 
ized force  which  is  controlled  wholly  by  their  ivill,  not  by  the  will 
of  their  people.  II  e  Jiave  seen  the  last  of  neutrality  in  such 
circumstances.  If  e  are  at  the  beginning  of  an  age  in  zviiich  it 
will  be  insisted  that  the  same  standards  of  conduct  and  responsibil- 
ity   for   wrong    done    shall    be    observed    among    nations   and    their 

40 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

governments  that  are   observed  among   the  individual  citizens   of 
civilized  states. 

We  have  no  quarrel  with  the  German  people.  We  have  no 
feeling  towards  them  but  one  of  sympathj'  and  friendship.  It 
was  not  upon  their  impulse  that  their  government  acted  in  enter- 
ing this  war.  It  was  not  with  their  previous  knowledge  or  ap- 
proval. It  was  a  war  determined  upon  as  wars  used  to  be  deter- 
mined upon  in  the  old,  unhappy  days  when  peoples  were  nowhere 
consulted  by  their  rulers  and  wars  were  provoked  and  waged  in 
the  interest  of  dynasties  or  of  little  groups  of  ambitious  men  who 
were  accustomed  to  use  their  fellow  men  as  pawns  and  tools. 
Self-governed  nations  do  not  fill  their  neighbor  states  with  spies 
or  set  the  course  of  intrigue  to  bring  about  some  critical  posture 
of  affairs  which  luill  give  them  an  opportunity  to  strike  and  make 
conquest.  Such  designs  can  be  successfully  worked  out  only  under 
cover  and  where  no  one  has  the  right  to  ask  questions.  Cunningly 
contrived  plans  of  deception  or  aggression,  carried,  it  may  be,  from 
generation  to  generation,  can  be  worked  out  and  kept  from  the 
light  only  within  the  privacy  of  courts  or  behind  carefully  guarded 
confidences  of  a  narrow  and  privileged  class.  They  are  happily 
impossible  where  public  opinion  commands  and  insists  upon  full 
information  concerning  all  the  nation's   affairs. 

Autocracy  Cannot  Be  Trusted. 

A  steadfast  concert  for  peace  can  never  be  maintained  except 
by  a  partnership  of  democratic  nations.  No  autocratic  govern- 
ment could  be  trusted  to  keep  faith  within  it  or  observe  its  cove- 
nants. It  must  be  a  league  of  honor,  a  partnership  of  opinion. 
Intrigue  would  eat  its  vitals  away;  the  plottings  of  inner  circles 
who  could  plan  what  they  would  and  render  account  to  no  one 
would  be  a  corruption  seated  at  its  very  heart.  Only  free  peoples 
can  hold  their  purpose  and  their  honor  steady  to  a  common  end 
and  prefer  the  interests  of  mankind  to  any  narrow  interest  of 
their  own. 

Does  not  every  American  feel  that  assurance  has  been  added 
to  our  hope  for  the  future  peace  of  the  world  by  the  wonderful 
and  heartening  things  that  have  been  happening  within  the  last 
few  weeks  in  Russia?  Russia  was  known  by  those  who  knew  it 
best  to  have  been  always  in  fact  democratic  at  heart,  in  all  the 
vital  habits  of  her  thought,  in  all  the  intimate  relationships  of  her 
people  that  spoke  their  natural  instinct,  their  habitual  attitude 
towards  life.  The  autocracy  that  crowned  the  summit  of  her 
political  structure,  long  as  it  had  stood  and  terrible  as  was  the 
reality  of  its  power,  was  not  in  fact  Russian  in  origin,  character. 

41 


AMERICANISM 

or  purpose;  and  now  it  has  been  shaken  off  and  the  great,  gener- 
ous Russian  people  have  been  added  in  all  their  naive  majesty  and 
might  to  the  forces  that  are  fighting  for  freedom  in  the  world, 
for  justice,  and  for  peace.  Here  is  a  fit  partner  for  a  League  of 
Honor. 

One  of  the  things  that  has  served  to  convince  us  that  the 
Prussian  autocracy  was  not  and  could  never  be  our  friend  is  that 
from  the  very  outset  of  the  present  war  it  has  filled  our  unsus- 
pecting communities  and  even  our  offices  of  government  with  spies 
and  set  criminal  intrigues  everywhere  afoot  against  our  national 
unity  of  counsel,  our  peace  within  and  without,  our  industries 
and  our  commerce.  Indeed  it  is  now  evident  that  its  spies  were 
here  even  before  the  war  began;  and  it  is  unhappily  not  a  matter 
of  conjecture  but  a  fact  proved  in  our  courts  of  justice  that  the 
intrigues  which  have  more  than  once  come  perilously  near  to 
disturbing  the  peace  and  dislocating  the  industries  of  the  country 
have  been  carried  on  at  the  instigation,  with  the  support,  and 
even  under  the  personal  direction  of  official  agents  of  the  Imperial 
Government  accredited  to  the  Government  of  the  United  States. 
Even  in  checking  these  things  and  trying  to  extirpate  them  we 
have  sought  to  put  the  most  generous  interpretation  possible  upon 
them  because  we  knew  that  their  source  lay,  not  in  any  hostile 
feeling  or  purpose  of  the  German  people  towards  us  (who  were, 
no  doubt,  as  ignorant  of  them  as  we  ourselves  were),  but  only 
in  the  selfish  designs  of  a  Government  that  did  what  it  pleased 
and  told  its  people  nothing.  But  they  have  played  their  part  in 
serving  to  convince  us  at  last  that  that  Government  entertains 
no  real  friendship  for  us  and  means  to  act  against  our  peace  and 
security  at  its  convenience.  That  it  means  to  stir  up  enemies 
against  us  at  our  very  doors  the  intercepted  note  to  the  German 
Minister  at  Mexico  City  is  eloquent  evidence. 

Make  the  World  Safe  for  Democracy. 

We  are  accepting  this  challenge  of  hostile  purpose  because  we 
know  that  in  such  a  government,  following  such  methods,  we  can 
never  have  a  friend ;  and  that  in  the  presence  of  its  organized 
poiver,  always  lying  in  ivait  to  accomplish  we  know  not  what 
purpose,  there  can  be  no  assured  security  for  the  danocratic  gov- 
ernments of  the  world.  IVe  are  noiv  about  to  accept  a  gauge  of 
battle  with  this  natural  foe  to  liberty  and  shall,  if  necessary,  spend 
the  whole  force  of  the  nation  to  check  and  nullify  its  pretensions 
and  its  poiuer.  IJ'e  are  glad,  now  that  ive  see  the  facts  ivith  no 
veil  of  false  pretense  about  them,  to  fight  thus  for  the  ultimate 
peace  of  the  world  and  for  the  liberation  of  its  peoples,  the  Gt  r- 

42 


WOODRO\\'  WILSON   AND  THE  WAR 

man  peoples  included:  for  the  rights  of  nations  great  and  small 
and  the  privilege  of  men  everywhere  to  choose  their  way  of  life 
and  of  obedience.  The  world  must  be  made  safe  for  democracy. 
Its  peace  must  be  planted  upon  the  tested  foundations  of  political 
liberty.  We  have  no  selfish  ends  to  serve.  We  desire  no  con- 
quest, no  dominion.  We  seek  no  indemnities  for  ourselves,  no 
material  compensation  for  the  sacrifices  we  shall  cheerfully  make. 
We  are  but  one  of  the  champions  of  the  rights  of  mankind.  We 
shall  be  satisfied  when  those  rights  have  been  made  as  secure 
as  the  faith  and  the  freedom  of  nations  can  make  them. 

Just  because  we  fight  without  rancour  and  without  selfish 
object,  seeking  nothing  for  ourselves  but  what  we  shall  wish  to 
share  with  all  free  peoples,  we  shall,  I  feel  confident,  conduct  our 
operations  as  belligerents  without  passion  and  ourselves  observe 
with  proud  punctilio  the  principles  of  right  and  fair  play  we 
profess  to  be  fighting  for. 

An   Irresponsible  Government  Running  Amuck. 

I  have  said  nothing  of  the  governments  allied  with  the  Im- 
perial Government  of  Germany  because  they  have  not  made  war 
upon  us  or  challenged  us  to  defend  our  right  and  our  honor.  The 
Austro-Hungarian  Government  has,  indeed,  avowed  its  unqualified 
endorsement  and  acceptance  of  the  reckless  and  lawless  submarine 
warfare  adopted  now  without  disguise  by  the  Imperial  German 
Government,  and  it  has  therefore  not  been  possible  for  this  Gov- 
ernment to  receive  Count  Tarnowski,  the  Ambassador  recently 
accredited  to  this  Government  by  the  Imperial  and  Royal  Gov- 
ernment of  Austria-Hungary;  but  that  Government  has  not 
actually  engaged  in  warfare  against  citizens  of  the  United  States 
on  the  seas,  and  I  take  the  liberty,  for  the  present  at  least,  of 
postponing  a  discussion  of  our  relations  with  the  authorities  at 
Vienna.  We  enter  this  war  only  where  we  are  clearly  forced 
into  it  because  there  are  no  other  means  of  defending  our  rights. 

//  will  be  all  the  easier  for  us  to  conduct  ourselves  as  bel- 
ligerents in  a  high  spirit  of  right  and  fairness  because  we  act 
u'ithout  animus,  not  in  enmity  tou'ards  a  people  or  with  the 
desire  to  bring  any  injury  or  disadvantage  upon  them,  but  only 
armed  opposition  to  an  irresponsible  government  luliich  has  thrown 
aside  all  considerations  of  humanity  and  of  right  and  is  running 
amuck.  We  are,  let  me  say  again,  the  sincere  friends  of  the 
German  people,  and  shall  desire  nothing  so  much  as  the  early  re- 
establishment  of  intimate  relations  of  mutual  advantage  between 
us, — however  hard  it  may  be  for  them,  for  the  time  being,  to 
believe  that  this  is  spoken  from  our  hearts.    We  have  borne  with 

43 


AMERICANISM 

their  present  government  through  all  these  bitter  months  because 
of  that  friendship, — exercising  a  patience  and  forbearance  which 
would  otherwise  have  been  impossible.  We  shall,  happily,  still 
have  an  opportunity  to  prove  that  friendship  in  our  daily  attitude 
and  actions  towards  the  millions  of  men  and  women  of  German 
birth  and  native  sympathy  who  live  amongst  us  and  share  our 
life,  and  we  shall  be  proud  to  prove  it  towards  all  who  are  in 
fact  loyal  to  their  neighbors  and  to  the  Government  in  the  hour 
of  test.  They  are,  most  of  them,  as  true  and  loyal  Americans 
as  if  they  had  never  known  any  other  fealty  or  allegiance.  They 
will  be  prompt  to  stand  with  us  in  rebuking  and  restraining  the 
few  who  may  be  of  a  different  mind  and  purpose.  If  there  should 
be  disloyalty,  it  will  be  dealt  with  with  a  firm  hand  of  stern 
repression;  but,  if  it  lifts  its  head  at  all,  it  will  lift  it  only  here  and 
there  and  without  countenance  except  from  a  lawless  and  malig- 
nant few. 

We  Fight  to  Free  the  World. 

It  is  a  distressing  and  oppressive  duty,  Gentlemen  of  the 
Congress,  which  I  have  performed  in  thus  addressing  you.  There 
are,  it  may  be,  many  months  of  fiery  trial  and  sacrifice  ahead  of 
us.  It  is  a  fearful  thing  to  lead  this  great  peaceful  people  into 
war,  into  the  most  terrible  and  disastrous  of  all  wars,  civilization 
itself  seeming  to  be  in  the  balance.  But  the  right  is  more  precious 
than  peace,  and  ive  shall  fight  for  the  things  which  we  have 
always  carried  nearest  our  hearts,  for  democracy,  for  the  right 
of  those  who  submit  to  authority  to  have  a  voice  in  their  own 
governments,  for  the  rights  and  liberties  of  small  nations,  for  a 
universal  dominion  of  right  by  such  a  concert  of  free  peoples  as 
shall  bring  peace  and  safety  to  all  nations  and  make  the  ivorld 
at  last  free.  To  such  a  task  we  can  dedicate  our  lives  and  our 
fortunes,  everything  that  we  are  and  everything  that  ive  have, 
ivith  the  pride  of  those  ivho  know  that  the  day  has  come  u'hen 
America  is  privileged  to  spend  her  blood  and  her  might  for  the 
principles  that  gave  her  birth  and  happiness  and  the  peace  irhich 
she  has  treasured.     God  helping  her,  she  can  do  no  other. 

Co.MMENTS     ON     THE    War    AdDRESS. 

Neiu  York  Sun:     "The  voice  of  the  Nation." 
Theodore  Roosevelt:   "The  President's  message     .     .     .     will 
rank  among  the  great  state  papers  of  which  Americans  in  future 
will  be  proud." 

President  Poincare  to  Wilson:  "Eloquent  interpreter  of  out- 
raged  right   and  menaced  civilization." 

44 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

Lloyd  George:  "The  glowing  phrases  of  the  President's 
noble  deliverance  illumine  the  horizon  and  make  clearer  than  ever 
the  goal  we  are  striving  to  reach." 

IVilfrid  Laurier:  "One  of  the  most  important  contributions 
since  Lincoln's  time  to  the  literature  of  freedom  and  democracy." 

M.  Ribot  of  France:  "Gives  the  war  its  true  character  for 
the  whole  world  to  understand." 

Chicago  Evening  Post:  "Rarely  has  the  soul  of  America  been 
interpreted  to  America,  rarely  has  it  been  translated  into  action 
with  greater  force,  with  finer  statesmanship,  with  simpler  nobility, 
than  in  this  mesage  of  final  American  revolt  against  the  natural 
foe  of  liberty.' " 

Literary  Digest:  "Worked  a  miracle  of  crystallization  and 
unification  in  American  sentiment." 

Figaro:  "The  whole  world  realizes  the  deeper  meaning  of 
the  war  of  1914." 

Paris  Matin:  "The  nobility  and  grandeur  of  this  action  are 
heightened  by  the  sublimity  and  the  simplicity  with  which  this  pur- 
pose is  expressed  by  the  illustrious  head  of  this  great  democracy. 
If  the  world  had  the  slightest  doubt  as  to  the  profound  meaning 
of  the  war  the  message  of  the  President  of  the  United  States 
would  forever  dissipate  all  obscurity." 

Petit  Journal:  "It  brings  a  moral  power  greater  than  all 
these."     (Credit,  resources,  fleet,  etc.) 

Journal:  "A  moral  condemnation  of  Germany.  It  is  her  ban- 
ishment from  the  ranks  of  the  nations.     .     ." 

Petit  Parisian:  "Her  recognized  and  positive  disinterestedness 
accentuates  and  makes  clear  the  character  of  the  war." 

Manchester  Guardian:  "Our  greatest  victory  since  the  war 
began." 

London  Daily  News:  "An  appeal  as  noble  and  as  moving 
as  any  ever  addressed  to  the  sons  of  men;  the  authentic  voice  of 
humanity,  stating  the  issue.  We  hard  pressed  nations  .  .  .  can- 
not but  feel  the  moral  uplifting  and  precious  moral  endorsement 
of  forces  inspired  by  such  an  ideal.  Because  he  has 
declared  a  new  and  indisputable  gospel  in  the  governance  of  men, 
President  Wilson's  speech  has  echoed  in  our  hearts  like  no  other 
utterance  in  these  days." 

London  Evening  Star:  "It  sounds  the  knell  of  autocracy.'* 
Pall  Mall  Gazette:   "A  crusade  more  than  worthy  of  its  best 
traditions." 

45 


AMERICANISM 

London  Tunes:  "An  event  which  is  certain  to  influence  their 
destinies  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  for  generations  to 
come."     .     .     . 

"We  doubt  if  in  all  history  a  great  community  has  ever  been 
summoned  to  war  on  grounds  so  largely  ideal.  .  ."  "President 
Wilson  proves  his  faith  in  the  profound  idealism  of  the  American 
people." 

Russekiya  Ryetels:  "The  most  important  feature  of  the  de- 
velopment in  Washington  is  the  profound  moral  significance  of 
the  entry  of  the  United  States  into  the  war." 

Cologne  Folks  Zeitung:  "The  gravest  insult  ever  offered  to 
("icrmany." 

Frankfurter   Zeitung:     "President   Wilson's    artiiicial   liuman- 

ty." 

Lokal  Anzeiger:    "Deed  of   a  stubborn  fanatic.  " 

APRIL  4,   1917 — Senate  ADO^'TS  war  resolution. 

APRIL  6,  1917 — House  adopts  war  resolution. 

APRIL  6,  1917 — President  Wilson  issues  war  proclamation. 

APRIL  16,  1917 — The  President  issues  a  proclamation  to 
his  fellow-countr'imen  on  ways  to  serve  the  Nation 
during  the  war. 

{This  appeal  laid  a  foundation  for  other  appeals,  demands 
and  exactions  which  were  to  come — food  and  fuel  regulations,  the 
selective  draft,  industrial  control,  Red  Cross  drives,  etc.  Not 
once  has  the  American  people  whined  or  winced.) 

"SPEAK,  ACT  AND  SERVE  TOGETHER." 

An  Appeal  to  the  People. 
(Complete) 
-My   1' cUow  Countrymen: 

The  entrance  of  our  own  beloved  country  into  the  grim  and 
terrible  war  for  democracy  and  human  rights  which  has  shaken 
the  world  creates  so  many  problems  of  national  life  and  action 
which  call  for  immediate  consideration  and  settlement  that  1  hope 
you  will  permit  me  to  address  to  you  a  few  words  of  earnest 
counsel  and  appeal  with   regard  to  them. 

We  are  rapidly  putting  our  nav\  upon  an  efficient  war  footing 
and  are  about  to  create  and  equip  a  great  army,  but  these  are  the 

46 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

simplest  parts  of  the  great  task  to  which  we  have  addressed  our- 
selves. There  is  not  a  single  selfish  element,  so  far  as  I  can  see, 
in  the  cause  we  are  fighting  for.  We  are  fighting  for  what  we 
believe  and  wish  to  be  the  rights  of  mankind  and  for  the  future 
peace  and  security  of  the  world.  To  do  this  great  thing  worthily 
and  successfully  we  must  devote  ourselves  to  the  service  without 
regard  to  profit  or  material  advantage  and  with  an  energy  and 
intelligence  that  will  rise  to  the  level  of  the  enterprise  itself.  We 
must  realize  to  the  full  how  great  the  task  is  and  how  many 
things,  how  many  kinds  and  elements  of  capacity  and  service  and 
self-sacrifice,  it  involves. 

These,  then,  are  the  things  we  must  do,  and  do  well,  besides 
fighting, — the  things  without  which  mere  fighting  would  be  fruit- 
less: 

We  must  supply  abundant  food  for  ourselves  and  for  our 
armies  and  our  seamen  not  only,  but  also  for  a  large  part  of  the 
nations  with  whom  we  have  now  made  common  cause,  in  whose 
support  and  by  whose  sides  we  shall  be  fighting; 

We  must  supply  ships  by  the  hundreds  out  of  our  shipyards  to 
carry  to  the  other  side  of  the  sea,  submarines  or  no  submarines, 
what  will  every  day  be  needed  there,  and  abundant  materials  out 
of  our  fields  and  our  mines  and  our  factories  with  which  not  only 
to  clothe  and  equip  our  own  forces  on  land  and  sea  but  also  to 
clothe  and  support  our  people  for  whom  the  gallant  fellows  under 
arms  can  no  longer  work,  to  help  clothe  and  equip  the  armies 
with  which  we  are  cooperating  in  Europe,  and  to  keep  the  looms 
and  manufactories  there  in  raw  material;  coal  to  keep  the  fires 
going  in  ships  at  sea  and  in  the  furnaces  of  hundreds  of  factories 
across  the  sea;  steel  out  of  which  to  make  arms  and  ammunition 
both  here  and  there;  rails  for  worn-out  railways  back  of  the 
fighting  fronts;  locomotives  and  rolling  stock  to  take  the  place  of 
those  every  day  going  to  pieces;  mules,  horses,  cattle  for  labor 
and  for  military  service;  everything  with  which  the  people  of 
England  and  France  and  Italy  and  Russia  have  usually  supplied 
themselves  but  cannot  now  afiEord  the  men,  the  materials,  or  the 
machinery  to  make. 

The  Great  Service  Army. 

It  is  evident  to  every  thinking  man  that  our  industries,  on 
the  farms,  in  the  shipyards,  in  the  mines,  in  the  factories,  must 
be  made  more  prolific  and  more  efficient  than  ever  and  that  they 
must  be  more  economically  managed  and  better  adapted  to  the 
particular  requirements  of  our  task  than  they  have  been;  and 
what  I  want  to  say  is  that  the  men  and  women  who  devote  their 

47 


AMERICANISM 

thought  and  their  energy  to  these  things  will  be  serving  the 
country  and  conducting  the  fight  for  peace  and  freedom  just  as 
truly  and  just  as  effectively  as  the  men  on  the  battlefield  or  in 
the  trenches.  The  industrial  forces  of  the  country,  men  and 
women  alike,  will  be  a  great  national,  a  great  international.  Serv- 
ice Army, — a  notable  and  honored  host  engaged  in  the  service  of 
the  nation  and  the  world,  the  efficient  friends  and  saviors  of  free 
men  everywhere.  Thousands,  nay,  hundreds  of  thousands,  of  men 
otherwise  liable  to  military  service  will  of  right  and  of  necessity 
be  excused  from  that  service  and  assigned  to  the  fundamental, 
sustaining  work  of  the  fields  and  factories  and  mines,  and  they 
will  be  as  much  part  of  the  great  patriotic  forces  of  the  nation 
as  the  men  under  fire. 

I  take  the  liberty,  therefore,  of  addressing  this  word  to  the 
farmers  of  the  country  and  to  all  who  work  on  the  farms:  The 
supreme  need  of  our  own  nation  and  of  the  nations  with  which 
we  are  cooperating  is  an  abundance  of  supplies,  and  especially  of 
foodstuffs.  The  importance  of  an  adequate  food  supply,  especially 
for  the  present  year,  is  superlative.  Without  abundant  food,  alike 
for  the  armies  and  the  peoples  now  at  war,  the  whole  great  enter- 
prise upon  which  we  have  embarked  will  break  down  and  fail. 
The  world's  food  reserves  are  low.  Not  only  during  the  present 
emergency  but  for  some  time  after  peace  shall  have  come  both 
our  own  people  and  a  large  proportion  of  the  people  of  Europe 
must  rely  upon  the  harvests  in  America.  Upon  the  farmers  of 
this  country,  therefore,  in  large  measure,  rests  the  fate  of  the 
war  and  the  fate  of  the  nations.  May  the  nation  not  count  upon 
them  to  omit  no  step  that  will  increase  the  production  of  their 
land  or  that  v»-ill  bring  about  the  most  effectual  cooperation  in  the 
sale  and  distribution  of  their  products?  The  time  is  short.  It  is 
of  the  most  imperative  importance  that  everything  possible  be  done 
and  done  immediately  to  make  sure  of  large  harvests.  I  call  upon 
^■oung  men  and  old  alike  and  upon  the  able-bodied  boys  of  the 
land  to  accept  and  act  upon  this  duty — to  turn  in  hosts  to  the 
farms  and  make  certain  that  no  pains  and  no  labor  is  lacking  in 
this  great  matter. 

I  particularly  appeal  to  the  farmers  of  the  South  to  plant 
abundant  foodstuffs  as  well  as  cotton.  They  can  show  their 
patriotism  in  no  better  or  more  convincing  way  than  by  resisting 
the  great  temptation  of  the  present  price  of  cotton  and  helping, 
helping  upon  a  great  scale,  to  feed  the  nation  and  the  peoples 
everywhere  who  are  fighting  for  their  liberties  and  for  our  own. 
The  variety  of  their  crops  will  be  the  visible  measure  of  their 
comprehension  of  their  national  duty. 

48 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

The  Government  of  the  United  States  and  the  governments 
of  the  several  States  stand  ready  to  cooperate.  They  will  do 
everything  possible  to  assist  the  farmers  in  securing  an  adequate 
supply  of  seed,  an  adequate  force  of  laborers  when  they  are  most 
needed,  at  harvest  time,  and  the  means  of  expediting  shipments  of 
fertilizers  and  farm  machinery,  as  well  as  of  the  crops  themselves 
when  harvested.  The  course  of  trade  shall  be  as  unhampered  as 
it  is  possible  to  make  it  and  there  shall  be  no  unwarranted  manipu- 
lation of  the  nation's  food  supply  by  those  who  handle  it  on  its 
way  to  the  consumer.  This  is  our  opportunity  to  demonstrate  the 
efficiency  of  a  great  democracy  and  we  shall  not  fall  short  of  it! 

Service  Unselfish  and  Sincere 

This  let  me  say  to  the  middlemen  of  every  sort,  whether  they 
are  handling  our  foodstuffs  or  our  raw  materials  of  manufacture 
or  the  products  of  our  mills  and  factories:  The  eyes  of  the 
country  will  be  especially  upon  you.  This  is  your  opportunity  for 
signal  service,  efficient  and  disinterested.  The  country  expects  you, 
as  it  expects  all  others,  to  forego  unusual  profits,  to  organize  and 
expedite  shipments  of  supplies  of  every  kind,  but  especially  of 
food,  with  an  eye  to  the  service  yon  are  rendering  and  in  the 
spirit  of  those  who  enlist  in  the  ranks,  for  their  people,  not  for 
themselves.  I  shall  confidently  expect  you  to  deserve  and  win  the 
confidence  of  people  of  every  sort  and  station. 

To  the  men  who  run  the  railways  of  the  country,  whether 
they  be  managers  or  operative  employees,  let  me  say  that  the  rail- 
ways are  the  arteries  of  the  nation's  life  and  that  upon  them  rests 
the  immense  responsibility  of  seeing  to  it  that  those  arteries  suffer 
no  obstruction  of  any  kind,  no  inefficiency  or  slackened  power.  To 
the  merchant  let  me  suggest  the  motto,  "Small  profits  and  quick 
service";  and  to  the  shipbuilder  the  thought  that  the  life  of  the 
war  depends  upon  him.  The  food  and  the  war  supplies  must  be 
carried  across  the  seas  no  matter  how  many  ships  are  sent  to  the 
bottom.  The  places  of  those  that  go  down  must  be  supplied  and 
supplied  at  once.  To  the  miner  let  me  say  that  he  stands  where 
the  farmer  does:  the  work  of  the  world  waits  on  him.  If  he 
slackens  or  fails,  armies  and  statesmen  are  helpless.  He  also  is 
enlisted  in  the  great  Service  Army.  The  manufacturer  does  not 
need  to  be  told,  I  hope,  that  the  nation  looks  to  him  to  speed  and 
perfect  every  process ;  and  I  want  only  to  remind  his  employees 
that  their  service  is  absolutely  indispensable  and  is  counted  on  by 
every  man  who  loves  the  country  and  its  liberties. 

Let  me  suggest,  also,  that  everyone  who  creates  or  cultivates 
a  garden   helps,   and   helps  greatly,   to  solve  the   problem   of  the 

49 


AMERICANISM 

feeding  of  the  nations;  and  that  every  housewife  who  practices 
strict  economy  puts  herself  in  the  ranks  of  those  who  serve  the 
nation.  This  is  the  time  for  America  to  correct  her  unpardonable 
fault  of  wastefulness  and  extravagance.  Let  every  man  and 
every  woman  assume  the  duty  of  careful,  provident  use  and 
expenditure  as  a  duty,  a  dictate  of  patriotism  which  no  one  can 
now  expect  ever  to  be  excused  or  forgiven  for  ignoring. 

In  the  hope  that  this  statement  of  the  needs  of  the  nation 
and  of  the  world  in  this  hour  of  supreme  crisis  may  stimulate 
those  to  whom  it  comes  and  remind  all  who  need  reminder  of  the 
solemn  duties  of  a  time  such  as  the  world  has  never  seen  before, 
I  beg  that  all  editors  and  publishers  everywhere  will  give  as 
prominent  publication  and  as  wide  circulation  as  possible  to  this 
appeal.  I  venture  to  suggest,  also,  to  all  advertising  agencies  that 
they  would  perhaps  render  a  very  substantial  and  timely  service 
to  the  country  if  they  would  give  it  widespread  repetition.  And  I 
hope  that  clergymen  will  not  think  the  theme  of  it  an  unworthy 
or  inappropriate  subject  of  comment  and  homily  from  their  pulpits. 

The  supreme  test  of  the  nation  has  come.  We  must  all  speak, 
act,  and  serve  together !  Woodrow  Wilson. 

MAY  4,  1917 — U.  S.  Destroyers  join  British  Naval  Forces 
III  War  Zone. 

MAY  6,  1917 — French  win  success  on  Chemin  des  Dames. 

MAY  13,  1917 — Italians  Take  Offensive  on  Isonzo  Front. 

(This  was  the  offensive  which  finally  threatened  Trieste,  and 
which  luas  broken  up  only  by  a  successful  campaign  of  peace  and 
defeatist  propaganda  among  the  Italian  soldiers,  carried  on  both 
from  their  front  and  rear,  and  followed  by  a  sudden  heavy  attack 
in  force  by  German  and  Austrian  troops.) 

MAY  17,  1917 — Kerensky  becomes  Russian  Minister  of  War. 

MAY  18,  1917 — Selective  Draft  Act  passed. 

MAY  18,  1917 — President  Wilson   proclaims  the  Selective 
Draft. 

(President  Wilson  had  pressed  for  a  draft  for  our  armies  as 
the  most  democratic  means  of  raising  one.  Tliis  view  ivas  opposed 
by  many  who  luanted  at  least  a  trial  made  of  the  volunteer  plan. 

50 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

President  Wilson's  views  finally  prevailed.  In  his  proclamation  of 
the  Draft  Act,  specifying  the  details  of  registration,  the  President 
makes  clear  the  democratic  doctrine  of  a  universal  service  draft, 
emphasizing  the  idea  of  "selection."  The  people  caught  the  spirit 
of  the  draft,  supporting  it  not  only  with  loyalty,  but  luith  an 
understanding  so  clear  that  it  was  deemed  an  honor,  rather  than 
a  reproach,  to  be  drafted.) 

"LISTS  OF  HONOR" 

The  Draft  Proclamation. 
{Abridged) 

The  Power  against  which  we  are  arrayed  has  sought  to  impose 
its  will  upon  the  world  by  force.  To  this  end  it  has  increased 
armament  until  it  has  changed  the  face  of  war.  In  the  sense  in 
which  we  have  been  wont  to  think  of  armies,  there  are  no  armies 
in  this  struggle,  there  are  entire  nations  armed.  Thus,  the  men 
who  remain  to  till  the  soil  and  man  the  factories  are  no  less  a 
part  of  the  army  that  is  France  than  the  men  beneath  the  battle 
flags.  It  must  be  so  with  us.  It  is  not  an  army  that  we  must 
shape  and  train  for  war;  it  is  a  nation. 

One  Front  Against  a  Common  Foe. 

To  this  end  our  people  must  draw  close  in  one  compact  front 
against  a  common  foe.  But  this  cannot  be  if  each  man  pursues  a 
private  purpose.  All  must  pursue  one  purpose.  A  nation  needs 
all  men;  but  it  needs  each  man,  not  in  the  field  that  will  most 
pleasure  him,  but  in  the  endeavor  that  will  best  serve  the  common 
good.  Thus,  though  a  sharpshooter  pleases  to  operate  a  trip- 
hammer for  the  forging  of  great  guns  and  an  expert  machinist 
desires  to  march  with  the  flag,  the  nation  is  being  served  only  when 
the  sharpshooter  marches  and  the  machinist  remains  at  his  levers. 

The  whole  nation  must  be  a  team,  in  which  each  man  shall 
play  the  part  for  which  he  is  best  fitted.  To  this  end,  Congress 
has  provided  that  the  nation  shall  be  organized  for  war  by  selec- 
tion; that  each  man  shall  be  classified  for  service  in  the  place  to 
which  it  shall  best  serve  the  general  good  to  call  him. 

A  Nation  Volunteers  in  .Mass. 

The  significance  of  this  cannot  be  overstated.  It  is  a  new 
thing  in  our  history  and  a  landmark  in  our  progress.  It  is  a  new 
manner  of  accepting  and  vitalizing  our  duty  to  give  ourselves  with 
thoughtful  devotion  to  the  common  purpose  of  us  all.     //  is  in  no 

51 


AMERICANISM 

sense  a  conscription  of  the  unwilling ;  it  is,  rather,  selection  from 
a  nation  which  has  volunteered  in  mass.  It  is  no  more  a  choosing 
of  those  who  shall  march  with  the  colors  than  it  is  a  selection  of 
those  ivho  shall  serve  an  equally  necessary  and  devoted  purpose  in 
the  industries  that  lie  behind  the  battle  line. 

The  day  here  named  is  the  time  upon  which  all  shall  present 
themselves  for  assignment  to  their  tasks.  It  is  for  that  reason 
destined  to  be  remembered  as  one  of  the  most  conspicuous  moments 
in  our  histor}'.  It  is  nothing  less  than  the  day  upon  which  the 
manhood  of  the  country  shall  step  forward  in  one  solid  rank  in 
defense  of  the  ideals  to  which  this  nation  is  consecrated.  It  is 
important  to  those  ideals  no  less  than  to  the  pride  of  this  genera- 
tion in  manifesting  its  devotion  to  them,  that  there  be  no  gaps  in 
the  ranks. 

Lists  of   Honor. 

It  is  essential  that  the  day  be  approached  in  thoughtful  appre- 
hension of  its  significance,  and  that  we  accord  to  it  the  honor  and 
the  meaning  that  it  deserves.  Our  industrial  need  prescribes  that 
it  be  not  made  a  technical  holiday,  but  the  stern  sacrifice  that  is 
before  us  urges  that  it  be  carried  in  all  our  hearts  as  a  great  day 
of  patriotic  devotion  and  obligation,  when  the  duty  shall  lie  upon 
every  man,  whether  he  is  himself  to  be  registered  or  not.  to  sec 
to  it  that  the  name  of  every  male  person  of  the  designated  ages  is 
written  on  these  lists  of  honor. 

MAY  2b,  1917 — President  Wilson  sends  a  Mess.a.ge  to  Russia. 

(Russia  was  in  an  uproar,  bemused  with  liberty.  Suspicious 
of  mU  government,  the  people,  now  in  control,  were  not  too  secure 
in  their  minds  concerning  the  Allied  purposes  in  the  zvar.  Partly 
to  free  them  from  their  suspicions,  partly  to  be  of  practical  assist- 
ance, if  possible.  President  ffilson  sent  a  mission  to  Russia,  headed 
by  Elihu  Root.  The  message,  sent  ahead  of  the  mission,  is  here 
reprinted.) 

"WE  .MUST  NOT  WEAKEN  NOW." 

A  Message  To  Russia. 
{Complete) 

Jn  view  of  the  approaching  visit  of  the  American  delegation 
to  Russia  to  express  the  deep  friendship  of  the  American  people 
for  the  people  of  Russia  and  to  discuss  the  best  and  most  practical 
means  of  cooperation  between  the  two  peoples  in  carrying  the 
j-irescnt   struggle    for  the    freedom   of    all    peoples   to    a   successful 

52 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

consummation,  it  seems  opportune  and  appropriate  that  I  should 
state  again,  in  the  light  of  this  new  partnership,  the  objects  the 
United  States  has  had  in  mind  in  entering  the  war.  Those  objects 
have  been  very  much  beclouded  during  the  past  few  weeks  by  mis- 
taken and  misleading  statements,  and  the  issues  at  stake  are  too 
momentous,  too  tremendous,  too  significant  for  the  whole  human 
race  to  permit  any  misinterpretations  or  misunderstandings,  how- 
ever slight,  to  remain  uncorrected  for  a  moment. 

The  war  has  begun  to  go  against  German}^  and  in  their 
desperate  desire  to  escape  the  inevitable  ultimate  defeat,  those  who 
are  in  authority  in  Germany  are  using  every  possible  instrumental- 
ity, are  making  use  even  of  the  influence  of  groups  and  parties 
among  their  own  subjects  to  whom  they  have  never  been  just  or 
fair  or  even  tolerant,  to  promote  a  propaganda  on  both  sides  of 
the  sea  which  will  preserve  for  them  their  influence  at  home  and 
their  power  abroad,  to  the  undoing  of  the  very  men  they  are 
using. 

The  Net  of  German  Intrigue. 

The  position  of  America  in  this  war  is  so  clearly  avowed  that 
no  man  can  be  excused  for  mistaking  it.  She  seeks  no  material 
profit  or  aggrandizement  of  any  kind.  She  is  fighting  for  no 
advantage  or  selfish  object  of  her  own,  but  for  the  liberation  of 
peoples  everywhere  from  the  aggressions  of  autocratic  force.  The 
ruling  classes  in  Germany  have  begun  of  late  to  profess  a  like 
liberality  and  justice  of  purpose,  but  only  to  preserve  the  power 
they  have  set  up  in  Germany  and  the  selfish  advantages  which 
they  have  wrongly  gained  for  themselves  and  their  private  projects 
of  power  all  the  way  from  Berlin  to  Bagdad  and  beyond.  Gov- 
ernment after  Government  has  by  their  influence,  without  open 
conquest  of  its  territory,  been  linked  together  in  a  net  of  intrigue 
directed  against  nothing  less  than  the  peace  and  liberty  of  the 
world.  The  meshes  of  that  intrigue  must  be  broken,  but  cannot 
be  broken  unless  wrongs  already  done  are  undone;  and  adequate 
measures  must  be  taken  to  prevent  it  from  ever  again  being  re- 
woven  or  repaired. 

Of  course,  the  Imperial  Government  and  those  whom  it  is 
using  for  their  own  undoing  are  seeking  to  obtain  pledges  that  the 
war  will  end  in  the  restoration  of  the  status  quo  ante.  It  was  the 
status  quo  ante  out  of  which  this  iniquitous  war  issued  forth,  the 
power  of  the  Imperial  German  Government  within  the  Empire 
and  its  widespread  domination  and  influence  outside  of  that  Em- 
pire. That  status  must  be  altered  in  such  fashion  as  to  prevent 
any  such  hideous  thing  from  ever  happening  again. 

53 


AMERICANISM 

All  PiiOPLKS  Must  He  Frel. 

We  are  fighting  for  the  liberty,  the  self-government,  and  the 
vindictated  development  of  all  peoples,  and  every  feature  of  the 
settlement  that  concludes  this  war  must  be  conceived  and  executed 
for  that  purpose.  Wrongs  must  first  be  righted,  and  then  adequate 
safeguards  must  be  created  to  prevent  their  being  committed  again. 
We  ought  not  to  consider  remedies  merely  because  they  have  a 
pleasing  and  sonorous  sound.  Practical  questions  can  be  settled 
only  by  practical  means.  Phrases  will  not  accomplish  the  result. 
Effective  readjustments  will;  and  whatever  readjustments  are 
necessary  must  be  made. 

But  they  must  follow  a  principle,  and  that  principle  is  plain. 
No  people  must  be  forced  under  sovereignty  under  which  it 
does  not  wish  to  live.  No  territory  must  change  hands  except  for 
the  purpose  of  securing  those  who  inhabit  it  a  fair  chance  of  life 
and  liberty.  No  indemnities  must  be  insisted  on  except  those  that 
constitute  payments  for  manifest  ivrongs  done.  No  readjustments 
of  power  must  be  made  except  sucli  as  will  tend  to  secure  the 
future  peace  of  the  ivorld  and  the  future  ivelfare  and  happiness  of 
its  peoples. 

And  then  the  free  peoples  of  the  world  must  draw  together  in 
some  common  covenant,  some  genuine  and  practical  cooperation 
that  will  in  effect  combine  their  force  to  secure  peace  and  justice 
in  the  dealings  of  nations  with  one  another.  The  brotherhood  of 
inankind  must  no  longer  be  a  fair  but  empty  phrase;  it  must  be 
given  a  structure  of  force  and  reality.  The  nations  must  realize 
their  common  life  and  effect  a  workable  partnership  to  secure 
that  life  against  the  aggressions  of  autocratic  and  self-pleasing 
power. 

For  these  things  we  can  afford  to  pour  out  our  blood  and 
treasure.  For  these  are  the  things  we  have  always  professed  to 
desire,  and  unless  we  pour  out  blood  and  treasure  now  and  succeed, 
we  may  never  be  able  to  unite  or  show  conquering  force  again  in 
the  great  cause  of  human  liberty.  The  day  has  come  to  conquer  or 
submit.  If  the  forces  of  autocracy  can  divide  us  they  will  over- 
come us;  if  \\  c  stand  together,  victory  is  certain  and  the  liberty 
which  victory  will  secure.  We  can  afford  then  to  be  generous,  but 
we  cannot  afford  then  or  now  to  be  weak  or  to  omit  an\  single 
guarantee  of  justice  and  security. 

WooDROw  Wilson. 

Jl'NE   1.  1917— More  disorder  iv   Russia.     Suspicion  of  Al- 
i.rr:n  aims  crows. 

54 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

JUNE  6,    1917 — Registration     Day     under    the     Selective 
Draft  Act. 

{Nearly   10,000,000  men  registered.) 

JUNE  8,  1917 — General  Pershing  reaches  England. 

JUNE  12,  1917 — Espionage  Bill  passed. 

JUNE  13,  1917 — General  Pershing  reaches  France. 

JUNE  14,  1917 — Flag  Day;  President  Wilson  delivers  an 
address. 

{President  If'ilson  ?nade  Flag  Day  the  occasion  of  an  address 
to  the  American  people  and  to  the  world  which  revealed,  more 
definitely  than  any  of  its  predecessors,  the  German  threat  upon 
civilization.  In  this  address  President  Wilson  spoke  categorically 
of  the  German  plan  of  lunrld  domination,  and  told  how  far  they 
had  already  progressed  in  consummating  the  "Berlin  to  Bagdad" 
phase  of  their  strangle-hold.  The  country  had  been  at  war  barely 
a  month.  This  address  helped  to  consolidate  sentiment  and  spur 
endeavor.  It  is  considered  by  many  his  finest  effort  from  a  literary 
point  of  vieiu.  ) 

"A  NEW  GLORY  FOR  OUR  FLAG." 

The   Flag   Day  Address   delivered  at   Baltimore,  June   14, 

1917. 
{Complete) 
My  Fellow  Citizens: 

We  meet  to  celebrate  Flag  Day  because  this  flag  which  we 
honor  and  under  which  we  serve  is  the  emblem  oi'  our  unity,  our 
power,  our  thought  and  purpose  as  a  nation.  It  has  no  other 
character  than  that  which  we  give  it  from  generation  to  genera- 
tion. The  choices  are  ours.  It  floats  in  majestic  silence  above 
the  hosts  that  execute  those  choices,  whether  in  peace  or  in  war. 
And  yet,  though  silent,  it  speaks  to  us — speaks  to  us  of  the  past, 
of  the  men  and  women  who  went  before  us  and  of  the  records 
they  wrote  upon  it.  We  celebrate  the  day  of  its  birth ;  and  from 
its  birth  until  now  it  has  witnessed  a  great  history,  has  floated  on 
high  the  symbol  of  great  events,  of  a  great  plan  of  life  worked 
out  by  a  great  people.  We  are  about  to  carry  it  into  battle,  to 
lift  it  where  it  will  draw  the  fire  of  our  enemies.  We  are  about 
to  bid  thousands,  hundreds  of  thousands,  it  may  be  millions,   of 

55 


AMERICANISM 

our  men,  the  young,  the  strong,  the  capable  men  of  the  nation, 
to  go  forth  and  die  beneath  it  on  fields  of  blood  far  away — for 
what?  For  some  unaccustomed  thing?  For  something  for  which 
it  has  never  sought  the  fire  before?  American  armies  were  never 
before  sent  across  the  seas.  Why  are  they  sent  now?  For  some 
new  purpose,  for  which  this  great  flag  has  never  been  carried 
before,  or  for  some  old,  familiar,  heroic  purpose  for  which  it  has 
seen  men,  its  own  men,  die  on  every  battlefield  upon  which 
Americans  have  borne  arms  since  the  Revolution  ? 

These  are  questions  which  must  be  answered.  We  are 
Americans.  We  in  turn  serve  America,  and  can  serve  her 
with  no  private  purpose.  We  must  use  her  flag  as  she  has  always 
used  it.  We  are  accountable  at  the  bar  of  history  and  must  plead 
in  utter  frankness  what  purpose  it  is  we  seek  to  serve. 

Germany  Forced  Us  to  War. 

It  is  plain  enough  how  we  were  forced  into  the  war.  The 
extraordinary  insults  and  aggressions  of  the  Imperial  German 
Government  left  us  no  self-respecting  choice  but  to  take  up  arms 
in  defense  of  our  rights  as  a  free  people  and  of  our  honor  as  a 
sovereign  government.  The  military  masters  of  Germany  denied 
us  the  right  to  be  neutral.  They  filled  our  unsuspecting  com- 
munities with  vicious  spies  and  conspirators  and  sought  to  corrupt 
the  opinion  of  our  people  in  their  own  behalf.  When  they  found 
that  they  could  not  do  that,  their  agents  diligently  spread  sedition 
amongst  us  and  sought  to  draw  our  own  people  from  theii 
allegiance — and  some  of  those  agents  were  men  connected  with 
the  official  Embassy  of  the  Germany  Government  itself  here  in 
our  own  capital.  They  sought  by  violence  to  destroy  our  indus- 
tries and  arrest  our  commerce.  They  tried  to  incite  Mexico  to 
take  up  arms  against  us  and  to  draw  Japan  into  a  hostile  alliance 
with  her — and  that,  not  by  indirection,  but  by  direct  suggestion 
from  the  Foreign  Office  in  Berlin.  They  impudently  denied  us  the 
use  of  the  high  seas  and  repeatedly  executed  their  threat  that  they 
would  send  to  their  death  any  of  our  people  who  ventured  to 
approach  the  coasts  of  Europe.  And  many  of  our  own  people 
were  corrupted.  Men  began  to  look  upon  their  own  neighbors 
with  suspicion  and  to  wonder  in  their  hot  resentment  and  surprise 
whether  there  was  any  community  in  which  hostile  intrigue  did 
not  lurk.  What  great  nation  in  such  circumstances  would  not 
have  taken  up  arms?  Much  as  we  had  desired  peace,  it  was 
denied  us,  and  not  of  our  own  choice.  This  flag  under  which  we 
serve  would  have  been  dishonored  had  v.e  withheld  our  hand. 

5(5 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

But  that  is  only  part  of  the  story.  We  know  now  as  clearly 
as  we  knew  before  we  were  ourselves  engaged  that  we  are  not 
the  enemies  of  the  German  people  and  that  they  are  not  our  ene- 
mies. They  did  not  originate  or  desire  this  hideous  war  or  wish 
that  we  should  be  drawn  into  it;  and  we  are  vaguely  conscious 
that  we  are  fighting  their  cause,  as  they  will  some  day  see  it,  as 
well  as  our  own.  They  are  themselves  in  the  grip  of  the  same 
sinister  power  that  has  now  at  last  stretched  its  ugly  talons  out 
and  drawn  blood  from  us.  The  whole  world  is  at  war  because 
the  whole  world  is  in  the  grip  of  that  power  and  is  trying  out  the 
great  battle  which  shall  determine  whether  it  is  to  be  brought 
under  its  mastery  or  fling  itself  free. 

Germany  Plotted  to  Master  the  World. 

The  war  was  begun  by  the  military  masters  of  Germany, 
who  proved  to  be  also  the  masters  of  Austria-Hungary.  These 
men  have  never  regarded  nations  as  peoples,  men,  women  and 
children  of  like  blood  and  frame  as  themselves,  for  whom  govern- 
ments existed  and  in  whom  governments  had  their  life.  They 
have  regarded  them  merely  as  serviceable  organizations  which  they 
could  by  force  or  intrigue  bend  or  corrupt  to  their  own  purpose. 
They  have  regarded  the  smaller  states,  in  particular,  and  the 
peoples  who  could  be  overwhelmed  by  force,  as  their  natural  tools 
and  instruments  of  domination.  Their  purpose  has  long  been 
avowed.  The  statesmen  of  other  nations,  to  whom  that  purpose 
was  incredible,  paid  little  attention;  regarded  what  German  pro- 
fessors expounded  in  their  classrooms  and  German  writers  set 
forth  to  the  world  as  the  goal  of  German  policy  as  rather  the 
dream  of  minds  detached  from  practical  affairs,  as  preposterous 
private  conceptions  of  German  destiny,  than  as  the  actual  plans 
of  responsible  rulers;  but  the  rulers  of  Germany  themselves  knew 
all  the  while  what  concrete  plans,  what  well  advanced  intrigues 
lay  back  of  what  the  professors  and  the  writers  were  saying,  and 
were  glad  to  go  forward  unmolested,  filling  the  thrones  of  Balkan 
states  with  German  princes,  putting  German  officers  at  the  service 
of  Turkey  to  drill  her  armies  and  make  interest  with  her  govern- 
ment, developing  plans  of  sedition  and  rebellion  in  India  and 
Egypt,  setting  their  fires  in  Persia.  The  demands  made  by  Aus- 
tria upon  Servia  were  a  mere  single  step  in  a  plan  which  com- 
passed Europe  and  Asia,  from  Berlin  to  Bagdad.  They  hoped 
those  demands  might  not  arouse  Europe,  but  they  meant  to  press 
them  whether  they  did  or  not,  for  they  thought  themselves  ready 
for  the  final  issue  of  arms. 

57 


AMERICANISM 

"Berlin  to  Bagdad/' 

Their  plan  was  to  throw  a  broad  belt  of  German  military 
power  and  control  across  the  very  center  of  Europe  and  beyond 
the  Mediterranean  into  the  heart  of  Asia;  and  Austria-Hungary 
was  to  be  as  much  their  tool  and  pawn  as  Servia  or  Bulgaria  or 
Turkey  or  the  ponderous  states  of  the  East.  Austria-Hungary, 
indeed,  was  to  become  part  of  the  central  German  Empire,  ab- 
sorbed and  dominated  by  the  same  forces  and  influences  that  had 
originally  cemented  the  German  states  themselves.  The  dream 
had  its  heart  at  Berlin.  It  could  have  had  a  heart  nowhere  else! 
It  rejected  the  idea  of  solidarity  of  race  entirely.  The  choice  of 
peoples  played  no  part  in  it  at  all.  It  contemplated  binding 
together  racial  and  political  units  which  could  be  kept  together 
only  by  force — Czechs,  Magyars,  Croats,  Serbs.  Roumanians, 
Turks,  Armenians — the  proud  states  of  Bohemia  and  Hungar\, 
the  stout  little  commonwealths  of  the  Balkans,  the  indomitable 
Turks,  the  subtle  peoples  of  the  East.  These  peoples  did  not  wish 
to  be  united.  They  ardently  desired  to  direct  their  own  affairs, 
would  be  satisfied  only  by  undisputed  independence.  They  could 
be  kept  quiet  only  by  the  presence  or  the  constant  threat  of  armed 
men.  They  would  live  under  a  common  power  only  by  sheer 
compulsion  and  await  the  day  of  revolution.  But  the  German 
military  statesmen  had  reckoned  with  all  that  and  were  ready  to 
deal  with  it  in  their  own  way. 

And  they  have  actually  carried  the  greater  part  of  that  amaz- 
ing plan  into  execution!  Look  how  things  stand.  Austria  is  at 
their  mercy.  It  has  acted,  not  upon  its  own  initiative  or  upon  the 
choice  of  its  own  people,  but  at  Berlin's  dictation  ever  since  the 
war  began.  Its  people  now  desire  peace,  but  cannot  have  it  until 
leave  is  granted  from  Berlin.  The  so-called  Central  Powers  are 
in  fact  but  a  single  Power.  Servia  is  at  its  mercy,  should  its 
hands  be  for  a  moment  freed.  Bulgaria  has  consented  to  its  will, 
and  Roumania  is  overrun.  The  Turkish  armies,  which  Germans 
trained,  are  serving  Germany,  certainly  not  themselves,  and  the 
guns  of  German  warships  lying  in  the  harbor  at  Constantinople 
remind  Turkish  statesmen  every  day  that  they  have  no  choice  but 
to  take  their  orders  from  Berlin.  From  Hamburg  to  the  Persian 
Gulf  the  net  is  spread. 

They  Seek  a  Peace  to  Preserve  Their  Spoils. 

Is  it  not  easy  to  understand  the  eagerness  for  peace  that  has 
been  manifested  from  Berlin  ever  since  the  snare  was  set  and 
sprung?  Peace,  peace,  peace  has  been  the  talk  of  her  Foreign 
Office  for  now  a  year  and  more;  not  peace  upon  her  own  initiative, 

58 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

but  upon  the  initiative  of  the  nations  over  which  she  now  deems 
herself  to  hold  the  advantage.  A  little  of  the  talk  has  been  public, 
but  most  of  it  has  been  private.  Through  all  sorts  of  channels 
it  has  come  to  me,  and  in  all  sorts  of  guises,  but  never  with  the 
terms  disclosed  which  the  German  Government  would  be  willing 
to  accept.  That  government  has  other  valuable  pawns  in  its 
hands  besides  those  I  have  mentioned.  It  still  holds  a  valuable 
part  of  France,  though  with  slowly  relaxing  grasp,  and  practically 
the  whole  of  Belgium.  Its  armies  press  close  upon  Russia  and 
overrun  Poland  at  their  will.  It  cannot  go  further;  it  dare  not 
go  back.  It  wishes  to  close  its  bargain  before  it  is  too  late  and  it 
has  little  left  to  offer  for  the  pound  of  flesh  it  will  demand. 

The  military  masters  under  whom  Germany  is  bleeding  see 
very  clearly  to  what  point  Fate  has  brought  them.  If  they  fall 
back  or  are  forced  back  an  inch,  their  power  both  abroad  and  at 
home  will  fall  to  pieces  like  a  house  of  cards.  It  is  their  power 
at  home  they  are  thinking  about  now  more  than  their  power 
abroad.  It  is  that  power  which  is  trembling  under  their  very 
feet;  and  deep  fear  has  entered  their  hearts.  They  have  but  one 
chance  to  perpetuate  their  military  power  or  even  their  controlling 
political  influence.  If  they  can  secure  peace  now  with  the  immense 
advantages  still  in  their  hands  which  they  have  up  to  this  point 
apparently  gained,  they  will  have  justified  themselves  before  the 
German  people;  they  will  have  gained  by  force  what  they  prom- 
ised to  gain  by  it:  an  immense  expansion  of  German  power,  an 
immense  enlargement  of  German  industrial  and  commercial  oppor- 
tunities. Their  prestige  will  be  secure,  and  with  their  prestige 
their  political  power.  If  they  fail,  their  people  will  thrust  them 
aside ;  a  government  accountable  to  the  people  themselves  will  be 
set  up  in  Germany  as  it  has  been  in  England,  in  the  United  States, 
in  France,  and  in  all  the  great  countries  of  the  modern  time  except 
Germany.  If  they  succeed  they  are  safe  and  Germany  and  the 
world  are  undone;  if  they  fail  Germany  is  saved  and  the  world 
will  be  at  peace.  If  they  succeed,  America  will  fall  within  the 
menace.  We  and  all  the  rest  of  the  world  must  remain  armed, 
as  they  will  remain,  and  must  make  ready  for  the  next  step  in 
their  aggression;  if  they  fail,  the  world  may  unite  for  peace  and 
Germany  may  be  of  the  union. 

Beware  of  Such  a  Peace! 

Do  you  not  now  understand  the  new  intrigue,  the  intrigue  for 
peace,  and  why  the  masters  of  Germany  do  not  hesitate  to  use 
any  agency  that  promises  to  effect  their  purpose,  the  deceit  of  the 
nations?     Their  present  particular  aim  is  to  deceive  all  those  who 

59 


AMERICANISM 

throughout  the  world  stand  for  the  rights  of  peoples  and  the  self- 
government  of  nations;  for  they  see  what  immense  strength  the 
forces  of  justice  and  of  liberalism  are  gathering  out  of  this  war. 
They  are  employing  liberals  in  their  enterprise.  They  are  using 
men,  in  Germany  and  without,  as  their  spokesmen  whom  they  have 
hitherto  despised  and  oppressed,  using  them  for  their  own  destruc- 
tion— socialists,  the  leaders  of  labor,  the  thinkers  they  have  hitherto 
sought  to  silence.  Let  them  once  succeed  and  these  men,  now  their 
tools,  will  be  ground  to  powder  beneath  the  weight  of  the  great 
military  empire  they  will  have  set  up;  the  revolutionists  in  Russia 
will  be  cut  off  from  all  succor  or  cooperation  in  western  Europe 
and  a  counter  revolution  fostered  and  supported;  Germany  her- 
self will  lose  her  chance  of  freedom;  and  all  Europe  will  arm  for 
the  next,  the  final  struggle. 

The  sinister  intrigue  is  being  no  less  actively  conducted  in 
this  country  than  in  Russia  and  in  every  country  in  Europe  to 
which  the  agents  and  dupes  of  the  Imperial  German  Government 
can  get  access.  That  government  has  many  spokesmen  here,  in 
places  high  and  low.  They  have  learned  discretion.  They  keep 
within  the  law.  It  is  opinion  they  utter  now,  not  sedition.  They 
proclaim  uie  liberal  purposes  of  their  masters;  declare  this  a 
foreign  war  which  can  touch  America  with  no  danger  to  either 
her  lands  or  her  institutions;  set  England  at  the  center  of  the 
stage  and  talk  of  her  ambition  to  assert  economic  dominion 
throughout  the  world;  appeal  to  our  ancient  tradition  of  isolation 
in  the  politics  of  the  nations;  and  seek  to  undermine  the  govern- 
ment with  false  professions  of  loyalty  to  its  principles. 

No  Peace   Until  the  World   Is   Free. 

But  they  will  make  no  headway.  The  false  betray  themselves 
always  in  every  accent.  It  is  only  friends  and  partisans  of  tlie 
German  Government  whom  we  have  already  identified  who  utter 
these  thinly  disguised  loyalties.  The  facts  are  patent  to  all  the 
world,  and  nowhere  are  they  more  plainly  seen  than  in  the  United 
States,  where  we  are  accustomed  to  deal  with  facts  and  not  with 
sophistries;  and  the  great  fact  that  stands  out  above  all  the  rest 
is  that  this  is  a  People's  War,  a  war  for  freedom  and  justice 
and  self-government  amongst  all  the  nations  of  the  world,  a  war 
to  make  the  world  safe  for  the  peoples  who  live  upon  it  and 
have  made  it  their  own,  the  German  peoples  themselves  included  ; 
and  that  with  us  rests  the  choice  to  break  through  all  these 
hypocrisies  and  patent  cheats  and  masks  of  brute  force  and  help 
set  the  world  free,  or  else  stand  aside  and  let  it  be  dominated  a 
long    age    through    by    sheer    weight    of    arms    and    the    arbitrary 

60 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

choices  of  self-constituted  masters,  by  the  nation  which  can  main- 
tain the  biggest  armies  and  the  most  irresistible  armaments — 2 
power  to  which  the  world  has  afforded  no  parellel  and  in  the  face 
of  which  political  freedom  must  wither  and  perish. 

For  us  there  is  but  one  choice.  We  have  made  it.  Woe  be  to 
the  man  or  group  of  men  that  seeks  to  stand  in  our  way  in  this 
day  of  high  resolution  when  every  principle  we  hold  dearest  is 
to  be  vindicated  and  made  secure  for  the  salvation  of  the  nations. 
We  are  ready  to  plead  at  the  bar  of  history,  and  our  flag  shall 
wear  a  new  luster.  Once  more  we  shall  make  good  with  our 
lives  and  fortunes  the  great  faith  to  which  we  were  born,  and  a 
new  glory  shall  shine  in  the  face  of  our  people. 

JUNE  20,  1917 — Italians   Extend  their   Offensive  to   the 
Trentino. 

JUNE  25,  1917 — Another  German  peace  offensive  begins. 

JUNE  27,  1917 — British    House  of  Lords   endorses  league- 
of-nations  idea. 

JUNE  30,  1917 — It  becomes  known  that  U.  S.  troops  have 
been   arriving  safely   in   France  during  the  month. 

JULY  1,  1917 — Russian   army   led  by   Kerensky  begins  of- 
fensive. 

JULY  11,  1917 — The  President  appeals  to  business  men. 

(T/ie  purpose  of  this  speech  ivas  to  lift  up  the  thoughts  of 
business  men  toward  their  part  of  the  work  in  hand.  It  was 
clearly  seen  that  the  entire  nation  must  be  organized  for  victory. 
The  fixing  of  prices  had  been  determined  upon,  as  a  war  measure. 
This  speech  asked  the  cooperation  of  business  men  in  such  a  step. 
Business  men  had  already  been  called  to  Washington  in  advisory 
capacities  from  all  over  the  country;  many  of  them  of  the  first 
prominence  in  commercial  and  industrial  affairs.  It  is  doubtful 
ivhether  any  other  war  had  been  so  free  from  a  tendency  to 
predatory  activities  on  the  part  of  those  in  a  position  to  take 
selfish  advantage  of  circumstances,  or  whether  public  opinion  had 
ever   been   more  intolerant   of  profiteering.) 

61 


AMERICANISM 

"WE  MUST  LEAVE  SELFISHNESS  OUT." 

i  An  Appeal  to  Business  Men. 

( Complete) 
My  Fellovv-Countrymen: 

The  Government  is  about  to  attempt  to  determine  the  prices 
at  which  it  will  ask  you  henceforth  to  furnish  various  supplies 
which  are  necessary  for  the  prosecution  of  the  war,  and  various 
materials  which  will  be  needed  in  the  industries  by  which  the 
war  must  be  sustained. 

We  shall,  of  course,  try  to  determine  them  justly  and  to 
the  best  advantage  of  the  nation  as  a  whole.  But  justice  is 
easier  to  speak  of  than  to  arrive  at,  and  there  are  some  considera- 
tions which  I  hope  we  shall  keep  steadily  in  mind  while  this  par- 
ticular problem  of  justice  is  being  worked  out. 

I  therefore  take  the  liberty  of  stating  very  candidly  my  own 
view  of  the  situation  and  of  the  principles  which  should  guide 
both  the  Government  and  the  mine-owners  and  manufacturers 
of  the  country  in  this  difficult  matter. 

Just    Prices   and    Profits. 

A  just  price  must,  of  course,  be  paid  for  everything  the 
Government  buys.  By  a  just  price  1  mean  a  price  which  will 
sustain  the  industries  concerned  in  a  high  state  of  efficiency,  pro- 
vide a  living  for  those  who  conduct  them,  enable  them  to  pay 
good  wages,  and  make  possible  the  expansions  of  their  enterprises 
which  will  from  time  to  time  become  necessary  as  the  stupendous 
undertakings  of  this  great  war  develop. 

We  could  not  wisely  or  reasonably  do  less  than  pa}  such 
prices.  They  are  necessary  for  the  maintenance  and  development 
of  industry;  and  the  maintenance  and  development  of  industry  are 
necessary  for  the  great  task  we  have  in  hand. 

But  I  trust  that  we  shall  not  surround  the  matter  with  a 
mist  of  sentiment.  Facts  are  our  masters  now.  We  ought  not 
to  put  the  acceptance  of  such  prices  on  the  ground  of  patriotism. 
Patriotism  has  nothing  to  do  with  profits  in  a  case  like  this. 
Patriotism  and  profits  ought  never  in  the  present  circumstances 
to  be  mentioned  together. 

It  is  perfectly  proper  to  discuss  profits  as  a  matter  of  busi- 
ness, with  a  view  to  maintaining  the  integrity  of  capital  and  the 
efficiency  of  labor  in  these  tragical  months,  when  the  liberty  of 
free  men  everywhere  and  of  industry  itself  trembles  in  the  bal- 
ance, but  it  would  be  absurd  to  discuss  them  as  a  motive  for 
helping  to  ser\c  and  save  our  country. 

62 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

Patriotism    Leaves   Profits   Out. 

Patriotism  leaves  profits  out  of  the  question.  In  these  dayl 
of  our  supreme  trial,  when  we  are  sending  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  our  young  men  across  the  seas  to  serve  a  great  cause,  no 
true  man  who  stays  behind  to  work  for  them  and  sustain  them 
by  his  labor  will  ask  himself  what  he  is  personally  going  to  make 
out  of  that  labor. 

No  true  patriot  will  permit  himself  to  take  toll  of  their  hero- 
ism in  money  or  seek  to  grow  rich  by  the  shedding  of  their  blood. 
He  will  give  as  freely  and  with  as  unstinted  self-sacrifice  as  they. 
When  they  are  giving  their  lives,  will  he  not  at  least  give  his 
money  ? 

I  hear  it  insisted  that  more  than  a  just  price,  more  than  a 
price  that  will  sustain  our  industries,  must  be  paid;  that  it  is 
necessary  to  pay  very  liberal  and  unusual  profits  in  order  to 
"stimulate  production,"  that  nothing  but  pecuniary  rewards  will 
do — rewards  paid  in  money,  not  in  the  mere  liberation  of  the 
world. 

I  take  it  for  granted  that  those  who  argue  thus  do  not  stop 
to  think  what  that  means.  Do  they  mean  that  you  must  be  paid, 
must  be  bribed,  to  make  your  contribution,  a  contribution  that 
costs  you  neither  a  drop  of  blood,  nor  a  tear,  when  the  whole 
world  is  in  travail  and  men  everywhere  depend  upon  and  call  to 
you  to  bring  them  out  of  bondage  and  make  the  world  a  fit  place 
to  live  in  again  amidst  peace  and  justice? 

Who  Will  Drive  Bargains  Now? 

Do  they  mean  that  you  will  exact  a  price,  drive  a  bargain, 
with  the  men  who  are  enduring  the  agony  of  this  war  on  the 
battlefield,  in  the  trenches,  amid  the  lurking  dangers  of  the  sea, 
or  with  the  bereaved  women  and  pitiful  children,  before  you  will 
come  forward  to  do  your  duty  and  give  some  part  of  your  life, 
in  easy,  peaceful  fashion,  for  the  things  we  are  fighting  for,  the 
things  we  have  pledged  our  fortunes,  our  lives,  our  sacred  honor, 
to  vindicate  and  defend — liberty  and  justice  and  fair  dealing  and 
the  peace  of  nations? 

Of  course  you  will  not.  It  is  inconceivable.  Your  patriot- 
ism is  of  the  same  self-denying  stuff  as  the  patriotism  of  the  men 
dead  or  maimed  on  the  fields  of  France,  or  else  it  is  no  patriot- 
ism at  all.  Let  us  never  speak,  then,  of  profits  and  of  patriotism 
in  the  same  sentence,  but  face  facts  and  meet  them.  Let  us  do 
sound  business,  but  not  in  the  midst  of  a  mist. 

Many  a  grievous  burden  of  taxation  will  be  laid  on  this 
Nation,  in  this  generation  and  in  the  next,  to  pay  for  this  war; 

63 


AMERICANISM 

let  us  see  to  it  that  for  every  dollar  that  is  taken  from  the 
people's  pockets  it  shall  be  possible  to  obtain  a  dollar's  worth  of 
the  sound  stuffs  they  need. 

Selfishness    Helps    Germany. 

Let  us  for  a  moment  turn  to  the  ship-owners  of  the  United 
States  and  the  other  ocean  carriers  whose  example  they  have 
followed,  and  ask  them  if  they  realize  what  obstacles,  what 
almost  insuperable  obstacles,  they  have  been  putting  in  the  way 
of  the  successful  prosecution  of  this  war  by  the  ocean  freights 
they  have  been  exacting. 

They  are  doing  everything  that  high  freight  charges  can 
do  to  make  the  war  a  failure,  to  make  it  impossible.  I  do  not 
say  that  they  realize  this  or  intend  it. 

The  thing  has  happened  naturally  enough,  because  the  com- 
mercial processes  which  we  are  content  to  see  operate  in  ordinary 
times  have  without  sufficient  thought  been  continued  into  a  period 
where  they  have  no  proper  place.  I  am  not  questioning  motives. 
I  am  merely  stating  a  fact,  and  stating  it  in  order  that  attention 
may  be  fixed  upon  it. 

The  fact  is  that  those  who  have  fixed  war  freight  rates  have 
taken  the  most  effective  means  in  their  power  to  defeat  the 
armies  engaged  against  Germany.  When  they  realize  this  we 
may,  I  take  it  for  granted,  count  upon  them  to  reconsider  the 
whole  matter.  It  is  high  time.  Their  extra  hazards  are  covered 
by  war-risk  insurance. 

The  Nation   Expects  \'our  Assistance. 

I  know,  and  you  know,  what  response  to  this  great  challenge 
of  duty  and  of  opportunity  the  Nation  will  expect  of  you:  and 
I  know  what  response  you  will  make.  Those  who  do  not  respond, 
who  do  not  respond  in  the  spirit  of  those  who  have  gone  to  give 
their  lives  for  us  on  bloody  fields  far  away,  may  safely  be  left 
to  be  dealt  with  by  opinion  and  the  law — for  the  law  must,  of 
course,  command  those  things. 

I  am  dealing  with  the  matter  thus  publicly  and  frankly,  not 
because  I  have  any  doubt  or  fear  as  to  the  result,  but  only  in 
order  that,  in  ail  our  thinking  and  in  all  our  dealings  with  one 
another  we  may  move  in  a  perfectly  clear  air  of  mutual  under- 
standing. 

And  there  is  something  more  that  we  must  add  to  our  think- 
ing. The  public  is  now  as  much  part  of  the  Government  as  the 
Army  and  Navy  themselves.  The  whole  people,  in  all  their 
activities,    arc   now   mobilized    and   in    service   for   the   accomplish- 

64 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

merit  of  the  Nation's  task  in  this  war.  It  is  in  such  circumstances 
impossible  justly  to  distinguish  between  industrial  purchases  made 
by  the  Government  and  industries.  And  it  is  just  as  much  our 
duty  to  sustain  the  industries  of  the  country,  all  the  industries 
that  contribute  to  its  life,  as  it  is  to  sustain  our  forces  in  the  field 
and  on  the  sea.  We  must  make  the  prices  to  the  public  the  same 
as  the  prices  to  the  Government. 

Prices  Are  Vital  Now. 

Prices  mean  the  same  thing  everywhere  now.  They  mean 
the  efficiency  or  the  inefficiency  of  the  Nation,  whether  it  is  the 
Government  that  pajs  them  or  not.  They  mean  victory  or  defeat. 
They  mean  that  America  will  win  her  place  once  for  all  among 
the  foremost  free  Nations  of  the  world,  or  that  she  will  sink  to 
defeat  and  become  a  second-rate  Power  alike  in  thought  and 
action.  This  is  a  day  for  her  reckoning,  and  every  man  among 
us  must  personally  face  that  reckoning  along  with  her. 

The  case  needs  no  arguing.  I  assume  that  I  am  only  ex- 
pressing }our  own  thoughts — what  must  be  in  the  mind  of  every 
true  man  when  he  faces  the  tragedy  and  the  solemn  glory  of  the 
present  war,  for  the  emancipation  of  mankind.  I  summon  you  to 
a  great  duty,  a  great  privilege,  a  shining  dignity  and  distinction. 

I  shall  expect  every  man  who  is  not  a  slacker  to  be  at  my 
side  throughout  this  great  enterprise.  In  it  no  man  can  win 
honor  who  thinks  of  himself. 

JULY  12,  1917 — Russian  Offensive  Against  Lemberg,  Lead 
BY  Kerensky  in  Person,  Progresses. 

JULY  19,  1917 — Reichstag  adopts  peace  resolutions. 

{These  resolutions  expressed  the  desire  of  the  German 
people  for  a  peace  of  lasting  conciliation  without  forced  acquisi- 
tion of  territory — "no  annexation,  no  indemnities."  German  diplo- 
mats contrived  to  have  this  cry  taken  up  later  by  the  Bolsheviki, 
and  certain  pacifists  also  adopted  it.) 

JULY  19,  1917 — Russian  offensive  slacks  up  in  disorder. 

JULY  20,  1917 — Kerensky  made  Russian  Premier. 

JULY  22,  1917 — Russian  Offensive  Breaks  Down  Through 
Lack  of  Discipline  and  Mutiny  Spreads  Amongst  the 
Troops. 

65 


AMERICANISM 

JULY  24,  1917 — Edward  N.  Hurley  put  iv  charge  of  ship- 
building. 

JULY  29,  1917 — Germany  in  Another  Peace  Offensive. 

{Dr.  M'lchaelis,  German  Chancellor,  seizing  upon  the  Reich- 
stag peace  resolutions  of  "no  annexations,  no  ideninities,"  main- 
tained that  the  refusal  of  the  Allies  to  accept  this  fortnula  at  once 
as  a  basis  for  peace  negotiations  convicted  them  of  hypocrisy  and 
proved  that  they  had  not  renounced  conquest  as  their  object  in 
war.  Count  Czernin,  Austrian  Foreign  Minister,  contended  that 
peace  would  be  reached  by  negotiation  sooner  or  later,  and  that 
any  delay  in  bringing  the  war  to  an  end  was  therefor  due  to  Eng- 
land's determination  to  destroy  the  Central  Powers.) 

JULY  31,  1917 — French  and  British  Smash  the  German 
Lines  in  Belgium  on  a  Front  of  25  Miles,  fro.m  Dixmude 
TO  Warneton. 

AUGUST  8,  1917 — Food  Control  Bill  passes. 

AUGUST  10,  1917 — President  gives  Mr.  Hoover  control  of 
food. 

AUGUST  15,  1917 — The  Pope  sends  a  peace  note  to  all 
belligerents. 

(In  his  appeal  to  belligerents,  the  Pope  suggested  disarma- 
ment, withdrawal  from  occupied  territories,  restitution  of  Ger- 
man colonies,  settlement  of  territorial  and  political  questions  in 
a  conciliatory  spirit,  and  a  general  condonation.) 

AUGUST  23,  1917— Russians  Evacuate  Riga. 

AUGUST  23,  1917 — Canadians  Advance  South  of  Lens. 

AUGUST  27.  1917 — President  Wilson  replies  to  the  Pope's 
peace  proposals. 

(The  proposal  for  peace  negotiations,  coming  from  such  a 
quarter,  proved  embarrassing  to  the  Allies.  The  burden  of  reply- 
ing was  left  to  President  IFilson.  His  answer  to  the  suggestion, 
though  courteous  and  respectful,  left  little  unsaid  that  bore  upon 
the  question  of  destroying  the  poicer  for  evil  existing  in  German 
autocracy.  His  reference  to  "selfish  and  exclusive  economic  leagues" 
was   construed  as   a   repudiation    of  an   understanding   reached  by 

66 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

France  attd  England,  at  the  Paris  Conference,  concerning  an  eco- 
nomic war  to  be  waged  on  Germany  after  the  conclusion  of  hostili- 
ties, and  lead  to  a  retirement  from  that  plan.  America  and  Allied 
Europe  rallied  behind  the  calm,  firm,  forceful  assertion  of  principle 
contained  in  the  reply,  which  proved  final  to  the  peace  suggestion.) 

"PEACE  IS  IMPOSSIBLE  NOW." 

The  Reply  to  the  Pope. 
{Complete) 
To  His  Holiness  Benedictus  XV,  Pope: 

In  acknowledgment  of  the  communication  of  your  Holiness 
to  the  belligerent  peoples,  dated  August  1,  1917,  the  President  of 
the  United  States  requests  me  to  transmit  the  following  reply: 

Every  heart  that  has  not  been  blinded  and  hardened  by  this 
terrible  war  must  be  touched  by  this  moving  appeal  of  his  Holi- 
ness the  Pope,  must  feel  the  dignity  and  force  of  the  humane 
and  generous  motives  which  prompted  it,  and  must  fervently  wish 
that  we  might  take  the  path  of  peace  he  so  persuasively  points 
out.  But  it  would  be  folly  to  take  it  if  it  does  not  in  fact  lead 
to  the  goal  he  proposes.  Our  response  must  be  based  upon  the 
stern  facts,  and  upon  nothing  else.  It  is  not  a  mere  cessation  of 
arms  he  desires;  it  is  a  stable  and  enduring  peace.  This  agony 
must  not  be  gone  through  with  again,  and  it  must  be  a  matter 
of  very  sober  judgment  what  will  insure  us  against  it. 

His  Holiness  in  substance  proposes  that  we  return  to  the 
status  quo  ante-bellum  and  that  there  be  a  general  condonation, 
disarmament,  and  a  concert  of  nations  based  upon  an  acceptance 
of  the  principle  of  arbitration;  that  by  a  similar  concert  freedom 
of  the  seas  be  established;  and  that  the  territorial  claims  of 
France  and  Italy,  the  perplexing  problems  of  the  Balkan  States, 
and  the  restitution  of  Poland  be  left  to  such  conciliatory  adjust- 
ments as  may  be  possible  in  the  new  temper  of  such  a  peace,  due 
regard  being  paid  to  the  aspirations  of  the  peoples  whose  political 
fortunes  and  affiliations  will  be  involved. 

We  Deal  with  a  Secret  and  Sinister  Power. 

It  is  manifest  that  no  part  of  this  program  can  be  successfully 
carried  out  unless  the  restitution  of  the  status  quo  ante  furnishes 
a  firm  and  satisfactory  basis  for  it.  The  object  of  this  war  is 
to  deliver  the  free  peoples  of  the  world  from  the  menace  and 
the  actual  power  of  a  vast  military  establishment,  controlled  by 
an  irresponsible  Government,  which,  having  secretly  planned  to 
dominate   the   world,    proceeded    to    carry   the    plan   out   without 

67 


AMERICANISM 

regard  either  to  the  sacred  obligations  of  treaty  or  the  long- 
established  practices  and  long-cherished  principles  of  international 
action  and  honor;  which  chose  its  own  time  for  the  war;  deliv- 
ered its  blow  fiercely  and  suddenly;  stopped  at  no  barrier,  either 
of  law  or  of  mercy;  swept  a  whole  continent  within  the  tide  of 
blood — not  the  blood  of  soldiers  only,  but  the  blood  of  innocent 
women  and  children  also  and  of  the  helpless  poor;  and  now 
stands  balked,  but  not  defeated,  the  enemy  of  four-fifths  of  the 
world. 

This  power  is  not  the  German  people.  It  is  the  ruthless 
master  of  the  German  people.  It  is  no  business  of  ours  how 
that  great  people  came  under  its  control  or  submitted  with  tem- 
porary zest  to  the  domination  of  its  purpose;  but  it  is  our  business 
to  see  to  it  that  the  history  of  the  rest  of  the  world  is  no  longer 
left  to  its  handling. 

To  deal  with  such  a  power  by  way  of  peace  upon  the  plan 
proposed  by  his  Holiness  the  Pope  would,  so  far  as  we  can  see, 
involve  a  recuperation  of  its  strength  and  a  renewal  of  its  policy; 
would  make  it  necessary  to  create  a  permanent  hostile  combina- 
tion of  nations  against  the  German  people,  who  are  its  instru- 
ments; and  would  result  in  abandoning  the  new-born  Russia  to 
the  intrigue,  the  manifold  subtle  interference,  and  the  certain 
counter-revolution  which  would  be  attempted  by  all  the  malign 
influences  to  which  the  German  Government  has  of  late  accus- 
tomed the  world. 

Can  peace  be  based  upon  a  restitution  of  its  power  or  upon 
any  word  of  honor  it  could  pledge  in  a  treaty  of  settlement  and 
accommodation? 

Peace  Must  Rest  ox  Rights. 

Responsible  statesmen  must  now  everywhere  see,  if  they  never 
saw  before,  that  no  peace  can  rest  securely  upon  political  or 
economic  restrictions  meant  to  benefit  some  nations  and  cripple 
or  embarrass  others,  upon  vindictive  action  of  any  sort,  or  any 
kind  of  revenge  or  deliberate  injury.  The  American  people  have 
suffered  intolerable  wrongs  at  the  hands  of  the  Imperial  German 
Government,  but  they  desire  no  reprisal  upon  the  German  people, 
who  have  themselves  suffered  all  things  in  this  war,  which  they 
did  not  choose.  They  believe  that  peace  should  rest  upon  the 
rights  of  peoples,  not  the  rights  of  Governments — the  rights  of 
peoples,  great  or  small,  weak  or  powerful — their  equal  right  to 
freedom  and  security  and  self-government  and  to  a  participation 
upon  fair  terms  in  the  economic  opportunities  of  the  world,  the 
German  people,  of  course,  included,  if  they  will  accept  equality 
and  not  seek  domination. 

68 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

The  test,  therefore,  of  every  plan  of  peace  is  this:  Is  it  based 
upon  the  faith  of  all  the  peoples  involved,  or  merely  upon  the 
word  of  an  ambitious  and  intriguing  Government,  on  the  one 
hand,  and  a  group  of  free  peoples,  on  the  other?  This  is  a  test 
which  goes  to  the  root  of  the  matter;  and  it  is  the  test  which  must 
be  applied. 

The  purposes  of  the  United  States  in  this  war  are  known  to 
the  whole  world — to  every  people  to  whom  the  truth  has  been 
permitted  to  come.  They  do  not  need  to  be  stated  again.  We 
seek  no  material  advantage  of  any  kind.  We  believe  that  the 
intolerable  wrongs  done  in  this  war  by  the  furious  and  brutal 
power  of  the  Imperial  German  Government  ought  to  be  repaired, 
but  not  at  the  expense  of  the  sovereignty  of  any  people — rather 
a  vindication  of  the  sovereignty  both  of  those  that  are  weak  and 
of  those  that  are  strong.  Punitive  damages,  the  dismemberment 
of  empires,  the  establishment  of  selfish  and  exclusive  economic 
leagues,  we  deem  inexpedient,  and  in  the  end  worse  than  futile, 
no  proper  basis  for  a  peace  of  any  kind,  least  of  all  for  an  endur- 
ing peace.  That  must  be  based  upon  justice  and  fairness  and  the 
common  rights  of  mankind. 

Germany's  Rulers  Cannot  Be  Trusted. 

IFe  cannot  take  the  word  of  the  present  rulers  of  Germany 
as  a  guarantee  of  anything  that  is  to  endure  unless  explicitly  sup- 
ported by  such  conclusive  evidence  of  the  will  and  purpose  of  the 
German  people  themselves  as  the  other  peoples  of  the  world  ivould 
be  justified  in  accepting.  Ji'ithout  such  guarantees  treaties  of 
settlement,  agreements  for  disarmament,  covenants  to  set  up  arbi- 
tration in  the  place  of  force,  territorial  adjustments,  reconstttu- 
tions  of  small  nations,  if  made  with  the  German  Government,  no, 
man,  no  nation,  could  noiv  depend  on. 

We  must  await  some  new  evidence  of  the  purposes  of  the 
great  peoples  of  the  Central  Powers.  God  grant  it  may  be  given 
soon  and  in  a  way  to  restore  the  confidence  of  all  peoples  every- 
where in  the  faith  of  nations  and  the  possibility  of  a  covenanted 
P^^ce.  Robert  Lansing, 

Secretary  of  State  of  the   United  States  of  America. 

Comments  on  the  Reply  to  the  Pope. 

London  Daily  Mail:  "President  Wilson's  reply  has  the  spirit 
and  point  of  view  the  world  has  learned  during  the  last  six 
months  to  look  for  in  all  his  utterances  on  the  war." 

London  Times:  "The  answer  of  a  practical  statesman  to  the 
peace  dreams  of  the  Vatican." 

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AMERICANISM 

Daily  Telegraph:  "It  comes  like  an  invigorating  wind  to 
blow  away  the  cobwebs  which  pacifism  and  its  dupes  have  been 
spinning  about  the  central  things  in  this  great  quarrel." 

Morning  Post:  "Reveals  a  man  who  has  his  eye  fixed  on 
realities  and  his  mind  resolved  unflinchingly  on  a  great  purpose. 
At  the  end  of  three  years  of  unspeakable  strain  and  anxiety  it 
is  an  inestimable  service  to  the  Allies  to  find  such  leadership  as 
this — strong,  clear-sighted,  inflexible — inspiring  new  courage  and 
faith,  shaming  the  faint-hearted  and  silencing  the  disaffected." 

New  York  World:  "That  President  Wilson  .  .  .  spoke 
for  all  the  Allied  Governments  admits  of  no  doubt,  but  what  is 
more  important — he  spoke  for  the  people  of  all  the  Allied  Govern- 
ments." 

Neiu  York  Post:  "In  his  outline  of  peace  terms,  Mr.  Wilson 
takes  the  lead." 

New  York  Globe:  "President  Wilson  .  .  .  has  satisfied 
the  conscience  of  the  world  that  stands  steadfast  for  war  until 
real  peace  is  possible." 

New  York  Tribune:  "The  final  word  of  western  civilization 
to  that  system  of  barbarism  which  dominates  and  controls  the 
German  Empire.  .  .  Mr.  Wilson  has  demolished  every  edifice 
of  peace  founded  upon  the  idea  of  preserving  any  portion  of  the 
German  purpose  and  the  German  idea." 

Evening  Standard:  "Mr.  Wilson  puts  into  plain  English  what 
our  statesmen  clothe  in  roundabout  and  unimpressive  language." 

Philadelphia  Enquirer:  "It  ought  to  clear  the  atmosphere 
not  only  in  the  United  States  but  in  Europe." 

New  York  Herald:  "In  language  that  will  ring  round  the 
world     .      .      .     speaking  for  the  people  of  all  nations." 

Boston  Post:  "He  shows  in  his  most  crystalline  and  effective 
fashion  how  futile  and  evanescent  any  peace  would  be  backed  only 
by  the  faith  of  the  Hohenzollerns." 

AUGUST  30,  1917 — French  Break  German  Lines  North  of 

V^ERDUN,    ON    A    FrONT    OF    11     MiLES. 

SEPTEMBER  3,  1917 — President  Wilson  sends  a  message  to 
THE  National  Army. 

(The  first  group  (687,000)  of  the  army  selected  by  lot  from 
the  10,000,000  registered  June  5th,  began  to  move  toward  their 
training  stations  two  days  later.  The  care  taken  of  the  army, 
and   the   high    mental   tone   of  the  soldiers,  are  new  in   warfare.) 

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WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

A  MESSAGE  TO  THE  NATIONAL  ARMY. 

To  the  Soldiers  of  the  National  Army: 

You  are  undertaking  a  great  duty.  The  heart  of  the  whole 
country  is  with  you. 

Everything  that  you  do  will  be  watched  with  the  deepest 
interest  and  with  the  deepest  solicitude,  not  only  by  those  who 
are  near  and  dear  to  you,  but  the  whole  nation  besides.  For  this 
great  war  draws  us  all  together,  makes  us  all  comrades  and 
brothers,  as  all  true  Americans  felt  themselves  to  be  when  we 
first  made  good  our  national  independence. 

The  eyes  of  all  the  world  will  be  on  you,  because  you  are  in 
some  special  sense  the  soldiers  of  freedom.  Let  it  be  your  pride, 
therefore,  to  show  all  men  everywhere  not  only  what  good  sol- 
diers you  are,  but  also  what  good  men  you  are,  keeping  yourselves 
fit  and  straight  in  everything  and  pure  and  clean  through  and 
through. 

Let  us  set  for  ourselves  a  standard  so  high  that  it  will  be  a 
glory  to  live  up  to  it,  and  then  let  us  live  up  to  it  and  add  a  new 
laurel  to  the  crown  of  America. 

My  affectionate  confidence  goes  with  you  in  every  battle  and 
every  test.    God  keep  and  guide  you !        Woodrow  Wilson. 

SEPTEMBER  8,  1917 — Secretary    Lansing    Exposes    Count 

LUXBURG. 

{Count  Luxburg,  German  Minister  at  the  Argentine,  had 
used  the  Swedish  Foreign  Office  to  advise  his  Government  about 
sinking  Argentine  ships.  He  recommended  that  they  be  sunk  with- 
out trace — "spurlos  versenkt."  This  "spurlos  versenkt"  note, 
among  others,  fell  into  the  State  Department's  hands  and  was 
published,  creating  a  neiu  disgust  with    German   methods.) 

SEPTEMBER  8,  1917 — England  adopts  President  Wilson's 
REPLY  to  the  Pope. 

SEPTEMBER  12,  1917 — The  President  appoints  a  personal 
commission  to  investigate  labor  restlessness  and  report. 

SEPTEMBER  15,  1917— Russia  proclaimed  a  Republic. 

SEPTEMBER  21,  1917 — State     Department     exposes     von 
Bernstorff^  former  German  Ambassador  to  the  U.  S. 

{A  letter  was  made  public  showing  that  von  Bernstorff  in- 
tended and  expected  to  corrupt   Congress  in  favor  of   Germany, 

71 


AMERICANISM 

and  had  a  fund  on  hand  for  that  purpose.  These,  and  similar 
fruits  of  the  United  States  Secret  Service  activities,  were  released 
from  time  to  time  in  ansuer  to  gestures  of  virtue  and  injured 
innocence  being  made  in    Germany.   ) 

OCTOBER  9,  1917— British  Take  Poelcapelle. 

OCTOBER  16,  1917—100,000    American     soldiers     reportf.d 
SAFE  IN  France. 

OCTOBER  23,  1917— French,  in  a  Smash,  Take  IMalmaisox 
Fort,  on  the  Aisne. 

OCTOBER  29,  1917 — Italian  debacle  on   Isonzo  front. 

( This  was  traced  definitely  to  German  and  other  propa- 
ganda.) 

OCTOBER  30,  1917— Von  Hertling  Succeeds  Dr.  Michaei.is 
as  German  Chancellor. 

{Each  change  in  this  office  brought  added  political  power  to 
the  Junkers,  the  Pan-German  Prussian  militarists,  intent  on  carry- 
ing through   their  first  grim  plans  of  conquest  and  exploitation.) 

NOVEMBER  1,  1917 — British  and  French  Reinforcements 
Reach  Italian  Lines. 

NOVEMBER  1,  1917— British  Take  Beersheba. 

NOVEMBER  1,  1917 — Kerensky  grows  impatient  with  Al- 
lies. 

(Kerensky,  with  his  hands  full  of  Russian  troubles,  teas  try- 
ing to  get  the  Allies  to  make  a  definite  statement  of  war  aims 
which  would  quiet  the  suspicion  of  the  seething  Russian  masses 
concerning  their  Allies.  This  the  Allies  were  reluctant  to  do,  be- 
cause of  the  existence  of  understandings  amongst  tJiemselves  which 
collided  zvith  the  Russian  formula  of  "no  annexations,  no  indemni- 
ties"— and  in  a  sense  ivith  President  Wilson's  announced  platfor?n 
for  Allied  Peace.) 

NOVEMBER  3,  1917 — First  fight  of  American  soldifrs  in 
France. 

NOVEMBER  6,    1917 — Canadians   Take    P  \sschkndaeli;. 

72 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

NOVEMBER  7,  1917 — The    President    issues    the   annual 
Thanksgiving  Proclamation. 

The  Thanksgiving  Proclamation. 

It  has  long  been  the  honored  custom  of  our  people  to  turn  in 
the  fruitful  autumn  of  the  year  in  praise  and  thanksgiving  to 
Almighty  God  for  His  many  blessings  and  mercies  to  us  as  a 
nation.  That  custom  we  can  follow  now  even  in  the  midst  of 
the  tragedy  of  a  world  shaken  by  war  and  immeasurable  disaster, 
in  the  midst  of  sorrow  and  great  peril,  because  even  amidst  the 
darkness  that  has  gathered  about  us  we  can  see  the  great  blessings 
God  has  bestowed  upon  us,  blessings  that  are  better  than  mere 
peace  of  mind  and  prosperity  of  enterprise. 

We  have  been  given  the  opportunity  to  serve  mankind  as  we 
once  served  ourselves  in  the  great  day  of  our  Declaration  of 
Independence,  by  taking  up  arms  against  a  tyranny  that  threatened 
to  master  and  debase  men  everywhere  and  joining  with  other  free 
peoples  in  demanding  for  all  the  nations  of  the  world  what  we 
then  demanded  and  obtained  for  ourselves.  In  this  day  of  the 
revelation  of  our  duty  not  only  to  defend  our  own  rights  as  a 
nation  but  to  defend  also  the  rights  of  free  men  throughout  the 
world,  there  has  been  vouchsafed  us  in  full  and  inspiring  measure 
the  resolution  and  spirit  of  united  action.  We  have  been  brought 
to  one  mind  and  purpose.  A  new  vigor  of  common  counsel  anc 
common  action  has  been  revealed  in  us.  We  should  especially 
thank  God  that  in  such  circumstances,  in  the  midst  of  the  greatest 
enterprise  the  spirits  of  men  have  ever  entered  upon,  we  have, 
if  we  but  observe  a  reasonable  and  practicable  economy,  abundance 
with  which  to  supply  the  needs  of  those  associated  with  us  as  well 
as  our  own.  A  new  light  shines  about  us.  The  great  duties  of  a 
new  day  awaken  a  new  and  greater  national  spirit  in  us.  W-e 
shall  never  again  be  divided  or  wonder  what  stuff  we  are  made  o. . 

And  while  we  render  thanks  for  these  things  let  us  pray 
Almighty  God  that  in  all  humbleness  of  spirit  we  may  look  always 
to  Him  for  guidance;  that  we  may  be  kept  constant  in  the  spirit 
and  purpose  of  service;  that  by  His  grace  our  minds  may  be 
directed  and  our  hands  strengthened;  and  that  in  His  good  time 
liberty  and  security  and  peace  and  the  comradeship  of  a  common 
justice  may  be  vouchsafed  all  the  nations  of  the  earth. 

Wherefore,  I.  Woodrow  Wilson,  President  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  do  hereby  designate  Thursday,  the  twenty- 
ninth  day  of  November  next,  as  a  day  of  thanksgiving  and  prayer, 
and  invite  the  people  throughout  the  land  to  cease  upon  that  day 
from  their   ordinary  occupations   and  in  their  several   homes   and 

73 


AMERICANISM 

places  of  worship  to  render  thanks  to  God,  the  great  ruler  of  all 
nations.  Woodrow  Wilson. 

NOVEMBER  7,  1917 — American  Commissioners,  with  Colo- 
nel House,  reach  England  for  Allied  War  Confer- 
ence in  Paris. 

NOVEMBER  7,  1917— Bolsheviki  Gaining  Control  of  Rus- 
sian Affairs  in  Petrograd, 

(Trotsky  and  Lenine,  "internationals''  one  of  them  helped 
back  to  Russia  by  Germany  herself,  beguiled  the  earnest,  naive 
Russians  with  a  cry  of  immediate  peace  and  free  land.  Their 
leadership  was  accepted  by  the  Bolsheviki — the  "maximalists,"  or 
those  asking  the  maximum  in  the  way  of  radical  refortns.) 

NOVEMBER  9,  1917— Bolsheviki  Win  Moscow.  Kerensky 
Tottering,  and  Russia  Moving  Swiftly  Toward  Anarchy 
in  Government. 

{How  Tnuch  of  this  breakdown  of  order  was  due  to  the  propa- 
ganda of  German  agents,  and  how  much  to  ingenuous  enthusiasms 
among  a  simple  people  newly  free,  can  never  be  fully  known.  Many 
students  of  statesmanship  believe  that  a  little  more  frankness  and 
"latience  on  the  part  of  the  Allies,  and  an  earlier  bloiving  away  of 
the  mists  that  ivere  hanging  over  Allied  war  aims,  ivould  have 
saved  Russia  from  what  seemed  to  the  Allied  people  at  the  time 
an  ungrateful,  treacherous  betrayal,  deserving  to  be  permitted  to 
punish  itself.  This  view  came  to  be  held  in  the  press  to  some 
extent.  President  IVilson  subsequently  appears  not  to  have  lost 
hope  at  any  time,  and  not  to  have  completely  lost  the  confidence 
of  the  Russian  people.) 

NOVEMBER  10,  1917 — Italians,  stiffened  by  French  and 
English   troops,   stand  on  the  Piave,  saving  Venice. 

NOVEMBER  10,  1917— Lenine  and  Trotzky,  Bolsheviki, 
become  supreme  in  Russia. 

NOV^EMBER  12,  1917 — Lloyd  George  demands  Allied  unity 
in  policy,  program,  plan  and  execution. 

NOVEMBER  12,  1917 — President  Wilson   goes  to  Buffalo 

AND   addresses    THE   AMERICAN    FEDERATION    OF    LabOR. 

(President  ITilson  had  recognized  Labor  from  the  first. 
Samuel  Gompers,  President  of  the  Federation  of  Labor,  was 
working  closely  with  him  on  labor  problems  involved  in  organizing 

74 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

the  nation  for  war.  In  this  address  President  IVilson  points  out 
the  just  obligations  and  duties  of  labor,  as  well  as  its  rights  and 
privileges.  He  showed  labor  its  own  interest  in  winning  the  war 
by  drawing  a  picture  of  the  German  idea  and  its  effect  upon  every 
form  of  freedom.) 

"LABOR  MUST  BE  FREE." 

An  Address  to  the  Federation  of  Labor  at  Buffalo. 
(Cojnplete) 

Mr.  President,  Delegates  of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor, 
Ladies  and  Gentlemen : 

I  esteem  it  a  great  privilege  and  a  real  honor  to  be  thus  ad- 
mitted to  your  public  counsels.  When  your  executive  committee 
paid  me  the  compliment  of  inviting  me  here,  I  gladly  accepted  the 
invitation  because  it  seems  to  me  that  this,  above  all  other  times 
in  our  history,  is  the  time  for  common  counsel,  for  the  drau^ing 
together  not  only  of  the  energies  but  of  the  minds  of  the  Nation. 
I  thought  that  it  was  a  welcome  opportunity  for  disclosing  to  you 
some  of  the  thoughts  that  have  been  gathering  in  my  mind  during 
the  last  momentous  months. 

I  am  introduced  to  jou  as  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
and  yet  I  would  be  pleased  if  you  would  put  the  thought  of  office 
into  the  background  and  regard  me  as  one  of  your  fellow  citizens 
who  has  come  here  to  speak,  not  the  words  of  authority,  but  the 
words  of  counsel;  the  words  which  men  should  speak  to  one 
another  who  wish  to  be  frank  in  a  moment  more  critical  perhaps 
than  the  history  of  the  world  has  ever  yet  known;  a  moment 
ivken  it  is  every  man's  duty  to  forget  himself,  to  forget  his  own 
interests,  to  fill  himself  with  the  nobility  of  a  great  national  and 
world  conception,  and  act  upon  a  new  platform  elevated  above 
the  ordinary  affairs  of  life  and  lifted  to  where  men  have  views  of 
the  long  destiny  of  mankind.  I  think  that  in  order  to  realize  just 
what  this  moment  of  counsel  is  it  is  very  desirable  that  we  should 
remind  ourselves  just  how  this  war  came  about  and  just  what  it 
is  for.  You  can  explain  most  wars  very  simply,  but  the  explana- 
tion of  this  is  not  so  simple.  Its  roots  run  deep  into  all  the 
obscure  soils  of  history,  and  in  my  view  this  is  the  last  decisive 
issue  between  the  old  principles  of  power  and  the  new  principles 
of  freedom. 

Causes  of  the  War. 

The  war  was  started  by  Germany.  Her  authorities  deny  that 
they  started  it,  but  1  am  willing  to  let  the  statement  I  have  just 
made  await  the  verdict  of  history.     And  the  thing  that  needs  to 

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AMERICANISM 

be  explained  is  why  Germany  started  the  war.  Remember  what 
the  position  of  Germany  in  the  world  was — as  enviable  a  position 
as  any  nation  has  ever  occupied.  The  whole  world  stood  at 
admiration  of  her  wonderful  intellectual  and  material  achieve- 
ments. All  the  intellectual  men  of  the  world  went  to  school  to 
her.  As  a  university  man  I  have  been  surrounded  by  men  trained 
in  Germany,  men  who  had  resorted  to  Germany  because  nowhere 
else  could  they  get  such  thorough  and  searching  training,  particu- 
larly in  the  principles  of  science  and  the  principles  that  underlie 
modern  material  achievement.  Her  men  of  science  had  made  her 
industries  perhaps  the  most  competent  industries  of  the  world,  and 
the  label  "Made  in  Germany"  was  a  guarantee  of  good  work- 
manship and  of  sound  material.  She  had  access  to  a'l  the  markets 
of  the  world,  and  every  other  who  traded  in  those  markets  feared 
Germany  because  of  h'r  effective  and  almost  irresistible  competi- 
tion.    She  had  a  "place  in  the  sun." 

Why  was  she  not  satisfied?  What  more  did  she  want?  There 
was  nothing  in  the  world  of  peace  that  she  did  not  already  have  and 
have  in  abundance.  We  boast  of  the  extraordinary  pace  of  American 
advancement.  We  show  with  pride  the  statistics  of  the  increase 
of  our  industries  and  of  the  population  of  our  cities.  Well,  those 
statistics  did  not  match  the  recent  statistics  of  Germany.  Her 
old  cities  took  on  youth,  grew  faster  than  any  American  cities  ever 
grew.  Her  old  industries  opened  their  eyes  and  saw  a  new  world 
and  went  out  for  its  conquest.  And  yet  the  authorities  of  Ger- 
many were  not  satisfied.  You  have  one  part  of  the  answer  to  the 
question  why  she  was  not  satisfied  in  her  methods  of  competition. 
There  is  no  important  industry  in  Germany  upon  which  the  Gov- 
ernment has  not  laid  its  hands,  to  direct  it  and,  when  necessity 
arose,  control  it;  and  you  have  only  to  ask  why  any  man  whom 
you  meet  who  is  familiar  with  the  conditions  that  prevailed  before 
the  war  in  the  matter  of  national  competition  to  find  out  the 
methods  of  competition  which  the  German  manufacturer  and  ex- 
porters used  under  the  patronage  and  support  of  the  Government 
of  Germany.  You  will  find  that  they  were  the  same  sorts  of 
competition  that  we  have  tried  to  prevent  by  law  within  our  own 
borders.  If  they  could  not  sell  their  goods  cheaper  than  we  could 
sell  ours  at  a  profit  to  themselves  they  could  get  a  subsidy  from 
the  Government  which  made  it  possible  to  sell  them  cheaper  any- 
how, and  the  conditions  of  competition  were  thus  controlled  in 
large  measure  by  the  German  Government  itself. 

Plans  for  World  Mastery. 

But  that  did  not  satisfy  the  German  Government.  All  the 
while    there    was   lying   behind    its   thought    in    its    dreams    of    the 

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WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

future  a  political  control  which  would  enable  it  in  the  long  run 
to  dominate  the  labor  and  the  industry  of  the  world.  They  were 
not  content  with  success  by  superior  achievement;  they  wanted 
success  by  authority.  1  suppose  very  few  of  you  have  thought 
much  about  the  Berlin-to-Bagdad  Railway.  The  Berlin-Bagdad 
Railway  was  constructed  in  order  to  run  the  threat  of  force  down 
the  flank  of  the  industrial  undertakings  of  half  a  dozen  other 
countries;  so  that  when  German  competition  came  in  it  would  not 
be  resisted  too  far,  because  there  was  always  the  possibility  of 
getting  German  armies  into  the  heart  of  that  country  quicker  than 
any  other  armies  could  be  got  there. 

Look  at  the  map  of  Europe  now!  Germany  in  thrusting  upon 
us  again  and  again  the  discussion  of  peace  talks  about  what? 
Talks  about  Belgium;  talks  about  northern  France;  talks  about 
Alsace-Lorraine.  Well,  those  are  deeply  interesting  subjects  to 
us  and  to  them,  but  they  are  not  talking  about  the  heart  of  the 
matter.  Take  the  map  and  look  at  it.  Germany  has  absolute 
control  of  Austria-Hungary,  practical  control  of  the  Balkan  States, 
control  of  Turkey,  control  of  Asia  Minor.  I  saw  a  map  in  which 
the  whole  thing  was  printed  in  appropriate  black  the  other  day. 
and  the  black  stretched  all  the  way  from  Hamburg  to  Bagdad — 
the  bulk  of  German  power  inserted  into  the  heart  of  the  world. 
If  she  can  keep  that,  she  can  keep  all  that  her  dreams  contemplated 
when  the  war  began.  H  she  can  keep  that,  her  power  can  disturb 
the  world  as  long  as  she  keeps  it.  always  provided,  for  I  feel  bound 
to  put  this  proviso  in — always  provided  the  present  influences  that 
control  the  German  Government  continue  to  control  it.  /  believe 
that  the  spirit  of  freedom  can  get  into  the  hearts  of  the  Germans 
and  find  as  fine  a  welcome  there  as  it  can  find  in  any  other  hearts, 
but  the  spirit  of  freedom  does  not  suit  the  plans  of  the  Pan- 
Germans.  Power  cannot  he  used  ivith  concentrated  force  aganist 
free  people  if  it  is  used  by  free  people. 

You  know  how  many  intimations  come  to  us  from  one  of  the 
central  powers  that  it  is  more  anxious  for  peace  than  the  chief 
central  power,  and  you  know  that  it  means  that  the  people  in  that 
central  power  know  that  if  the  war  ends  as  it  stands  they  will  in 
effect  themselves  be  vassals  of  Germany,  notwithstanding  that 
their  populations  are  compounded  of  all  the  peoples  of  that  part 
of  the  world,  and  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  they  do  not  wish 
in  their  pride  and  proper  spirit  of  nationality  to  be  so  absorbed 
and  dominated.  Germany  is  determined  that  the  political  power 
of  the  world  shall  belong  to  her.  There  have  been  such  ambitions 
before.  They  have  been  in  part  realized,  but  never  before  have 
those  ambitions  been  based  upon  so  exact  and  precise  and  scientific 
a  plan  of  domination. 

77 


AMERICANISM 

The  Way  to  Peace:    War! 

May  I  not  say  that  it  is  amazing  to  me  that  any  group  of 
persons  should  be  so  ill-informed  as  to  suppose,  as  some  groups 
in  Russia  apparently  suppose,  that  any  reforms  planned  in  the 
interest  of  the  people  can  live  in  the  presence  of  a  Germany 
powerful  enough  to  undermine  or  overthrow  them  by  intrigue  or 
force?  Any  body  of  jree  men  that  compounds  with  the  present 
German  Government  is  compounding  for  its  own  destruction* 
But  that  is  not  the  whole  of  the  story.  Any  man  in  America  or 
anywhere  else  that  supposes  that  the  free  industry  and  enterprise 
of  the  world  can  continue  if  the  Pan-German  plan  is  achieved  and 
German  power  fastened  upon  the  world  is  as  fatuous  as  the 
dreamers  in  Russia.  IFhat  I  am  opposed  to  is  not  the  feeling  of 
the  pacifists,  but  their  stupidity.  My  heart  is  with  them,  but  my 
mind  has  a  contempt  for  them.  I  want  peace,  but  f  know  how 
to  get  it,  and  they  do  not. 

You  will  notice  that  I  sent  a  friend  of  mine,  Col.  House,  to 
Europe,  who  is  as  great  a  lover  of  peace  as  any  man  in  the  world, 
but  I  didn't  send  him  on  a  peace  mission  yet.  I  sent  him  to  take 
part  in  a  conference  as  to  how  the  war  was  to  be  won,  and  he 
knows,  as  I  know,  that  that  is  the  way  to  get  peace  if  you  want 
it  for  more  than  a  few  minutes. 

All  of  this  is  a  preface  to  the  conference  that  I  have  referred 
to  with  regard  to  what  we  are  going  to  do.  If  we  are  true  friends 
of  freedom  of  our  own  or  anybody  else's,  we  will  see  that  the 
power  of  this  country  and  the  productivity  of  this  country  is 
raised  to  its  absolute  maximum,  and  that  absolutely  nobody  is 
allowed  to  stand  In  the  way  of  it.  When  I  say  that  nobody  is 
allowed  to  stand  in  the  way  I  do  not  mean  that  they  shall  be 
prevented  by  the  power  of  the  Government  but  by  the  power  of 
the  American  spirit.  Our  duty,  if  we  are  to  do  this  great  thing 
and  show  America  to  be  what  we  believe  her  to  be — the  greatest 
hope  and  energy  of  the  world — is  to  stand  together  night  and  day 
until  the  job  is  finished. 

No  One  Must  Interrupt. 

While  we  are  fighting  for  freedom  we  must  see  among  other 
things,  that  labor  is  free,  and  that  means  a  number  of  interesting 
things.  It  means  not  only  that  we  must  do  what  we  have  declared 
our  purpose  to  do,  see  that  the  conditions  of  labor  are  not  ren- 
dered more  onerous  by  the  war  but  also  that  we  shall  see  to  it 
that  the  instrumentalities  by  which  the  conditions  of  labor  are 
improved  are  not  blocked  or  checked.  That  we  must  do.  That 
has  been  the  matter   about  which   I  have  taken   pleasure  in  con- 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

ferring  from  time  to  time  with  your  president,  Mr.  Gompers; 
and  if  I  may  be  permitted  to  do  so,  I  want  to  express  my  admira- 
tion of  his  patriotic  courage,  his  large  vision,  and  his  statesman- 
like sense  of  what  has  to  be  done.  I  like  to  lay  my  mind  alongside 
of  a  mind  that  knows  how  to  pull  in  harness.  The  horses  that 
kick  over  the  traces  will  have  to  be  put  in  corral. 

Now,  to  stand  together  means  that  nobody  must  interrupt  the 
processes  of  our  energy  if  the  interruption  can  possibly  be  avoided 
without  the  absolute  invasion  of  freedom.  To  put  it  concretely, 
that  means  this:  Nobody  has  a  right  to  stop  the  processes  of 
labor  until  all  the  methods  of  conciliation  and  settlement  have 
been  exhausted.  And  I  might  as  well  say  right  here  that  I  am 
not  talking  to  you  alone.  You  sometimes  stop  the  courses  of 
labor,  but  there  are  others  who  do  the  same,  and  I  believe  that 
I  am  speaking  from  my  own  experience  not  only,  but  from  the 
experience  of  others  when  I  say  that  you  are  reasonable  in  a 
larger  number  of  cases  than  the  capitalists.  I  am  not  saying  these 
things  to  them  personally  yet,  because  I  have  not  had  a  chance, 
but  they  have  to  be  said,  not  in  any  spirit  of  criticism,  but  in 
order  to  clear  the  atmosphere  and  come  down  to  business. 
Everybody  on  both  sides  has  now  got  to  transact  business,  and  a 
settlement  is  never  impossible  when  both  sides  want  to  do  the 
square  and  right  thing. 

Moreover,  a  settlement  is  always  hard  to  avoid  when  the  parties 
can  be  brought  face  to  face.  I  can  differ  from  a  man  much  more 
radically  when  he  is  not  in  the  room  than  I  can  when  he  is  in 
the  room,  because  then  the  awkward  thing  is  he  can  come  back 
at  me  and  answer  what  I  say.  It  is  always  dangerous  for  a  man 
to  have  the  floor  entirely  to  himself.  Therefore,  we  must  insist 
in  every  instance  that  the  parties  come  into  each  other's  presence 
and  there  discuss  the  issues  between  them  and  not  separately  in 
places  which  have  no  communication  with  each  other.  I  always 
like  to  remind  myself  of  a  delightful  saying  of  an  Englishman  of 
the  past  generation,  Charles  Lamb.  He  stuttered  a  little  bit,  and 
once  when  he  was  with  a  group  of  friends  he  spoke  very  harshly 
of  some  man  who  was  not  present.  One  of  his  friends  said: 
"Why,  Charles,  I  didn't  know  that  you  knew  so-and-so." 
"O-o-oh,"  he  said,  "I-I  d-d-don't;  I-I  can't  h-h-hate  a  m-m-man 
I-I  know."  There  is  a  great  deal  of  human  nature,  of  very 
pleasant  human  nature,  in  the  saying.  It  is  hard  to  hate  a  man 
you  know.  I  may  admit,  parenthetically,  that  there  are  some 
politicians  whose  methods  I  do  not  at  all  believe  in,  but  they  arc 
jolly  good  fellows,  and  if  they  only  would  not  talk  the  wrong  kind 
of  politics,  I  would  love  to  be  with  them. 

79 


AxMERICAMSM 

We  Must  Show  That  We  Can  Govern  Ourselves 

So  it  is  all  along  the  line,  in  serious  matters  and  things  less 
serious.  We  are  all  of  the  same  clay  and  spirit,  and  we  can  get 
together  if  we  desire  to  get  together.  Therefore,  my  counsel  to 
you  is  this:  Let  us  show  ourselves  Americans  by  showing  that  we 
do  not  want  to  go  off  in  separate  camps  or  groups  by  ourselves, 
but  that  we  want  to  cooperate  with  all  other  classes  and  all  other 
groups  in  the  common  enterprise  which  is  to  release  the  spirits  of 
the  world  from  bondage.  I  would  be  willing  to  set  that  up  as 
the  final  test  of  an  American.  That  is  the  meaning  of  democracy. 
I  have  been  very  much  distressed,  my  fellow  citizens,  by  some  of 
the  things  that  have  happened  recently.  The  mob  spirit  is  dis- 
playing itself  here  and  there  in  this  country.  I  have  no  sympathy 
with  what  some  men  are  saying,  but  I  have  no  sympathy  with  the 
men  who  take  their  punishment  into  their  own  hands;  and  I  want 
to  say  to  every  man  who  does  join  such  a  mob  that  I  do  not 
recognize  him  as  worthy  of  the  free  institutions  of  the  United 
States.  There  are  some  organizations  in  this  country  whose  object 
is  anarchy  and  the  destruction  of  law,  but  I  would  not  meet  their 
efforts  by  making  myself  partner  in  destroying  the  law.  I  despise 
and  hate  their  purposes  as  much  as  any  man,  but  1  respect  the 
ancient  processes  of  justice;  and  I  would  be  too  proud  not  to  see 
them  done  justice,  however  wrong  they  are. 

So  I  want  to  utter  my  earnest  protest  against  any  manifesta- 
tion of  the  spirit  of  lawlessness  anywhere  or  in  any  cause.  Why. 
gentlemen,  look  what  it  means.  We  claim  to  be  the  greatest 
democratic  people  in  the  world,  and  democracy  means  first  of  all 
that  we  can  govern  ourselves.  If  our  men  have  not  self-control, 
then  they  are  not  capable  of  that  great  thing  which  we  call  demo- 
cratic government.  A  man  who  takes  the  law  into  his  own  hands 
is  not  the  right  man  to  cooperate  in  any  formation  or  develop- 
ment of  law  and  institutions,  and  some  of  the  processes  by  which 
the  struggle  between  capital  and  labor  is  carried  on  are  processes 
that  come  very  near  to  taking  the  law  into  your  own  hands.  1 
do  not  mean  for  a  moment  to  compare  it  with  what  I  have  just 
been  speaking  of,  but  1  want  you  to  sec  that  they  are  mere  grada- 
tions in  this  manifestation  of  the  unwillingness  to  cooperate,  and 
that  the  fundamental  lesson  of  the  whole  situation  is  that  we  must 
yield  to  and  obey  common  counsel.  Not  all  of  the  instrumentali- 
ties for  this  are  at  hand.  I  am  hopeful  that  in  the  very  near 
future  new  instrumentalities  may  be  organized  by  which  we  can 
see  to  it  that  various  things  that  are  now  going  on  ought  not  to 
go  on.  There  are  various  processes  of  the  dilution  of  labor  and 
the   unnecessary   substitution   of   labor   and   the  bidding  in   distant 

80 


WOODROW  WILSOx\  AND  THE  WAR 

markets  and  unfairly  upsetting  the  whole  competition  of  labor 
which  ought  not  to  go  on.  I  mean  now  on  the  part  of  employers, 
and  we  must  interject  into  this  some  instrumentality  of  coopera- 
tion by  which  the  fair  thing  will  be  done  all  around.  I  am  hope- 
ful that  some  such  instrumentalities  may  be  devised,  but  whether 
they  are  or  not,  we  must  use  those  that  we  have  and  upon  every 
occasion  where  it  is  necessary  have  such  an  instrumentality  orig- 
inated upon  that  occasion. 

"I  Am  With  You  If  You  Are  With  Me." 

So,  my  fellow  citizens,  the  reason  I  came  away  from  Wash- 
ington is  that  I  sometimes  get  lonely  down  there.  There  are  so 
many  people  in  Washington  who  know  things  that  are  not  so, 
and  there  are  so  few  people  who  know  anything  about  what  the 
people  of  the  United  States  are  thinking  about.  I  have  to  come 
away  and  get  reminded  of  the  rest  of  the  country.  I  have  to 
come  away  and  talk  to  men  who  are  up  against  the  real  thing,  and 
say  to  them,  "I  am  with  you  if  you  are  with  me."  And  the  only 
test  of  being  with  me  is  not  to  think  about  me  personally  at  all, 
but  merely  to  think  of  me  as  the  expression  for  the  time  being 
of  the  power  and  dignity  and  hope  of  the  United  States. 

Comments  ox  the  Labor  Address. 

Neiu  York  World:  "Again  has  the  President  proved  himself 
the  great  spokesman  and  interpreter  of  modern  democrac}^" 

Labor  Union  Record,  Seattle:  "If  the  President  can  bring 
the  other  fellow  the  rest  of  the  way,  he  can  count  on  our  united 
support." 

Duluth  Labor  JForld:    "Organized  labor  will  go  the  limit  to 

prevent  strikes.     Union  men  know  the  priceless  value  of  liberty. 

It  is  a  crime   akin  to   treason  to  call   a  strike   at   this 

crucial  hour,   without   giving   the   Government   an  opportunity  to 

adjust  the  grievances  complained  of  by  conciliation." 

National  Labor  Journal:  "The  roadbed  is  rough,  but  labor 
trusts  the  engineer." 

NOVEMBER  14,   1917— Premier  Kerensky  a  Fugitive  from 

THE   BOLSHEVIKI. 

{Russian  reign  of  terror  in  the  name  of  democracy,  began 
under  the  leadership  of  Lenine  and    Trotsky.) 

NOVEMBER  15,  1917— Clemenceau,  "The  Tiger,"  becomes 

Premier  of  France. 

{He  had  been  bitterly  assailing  the  government  for  its  conduct 
of  the   ivar,   and  especially  for  its  failure  to   root  out  and  destroy 

81 


AMERICANISM 

"defeatism"  and  treason,  which  had  been  widely  exposed.  Men 
then  prominent  in  French  affairs  have  since  been  brought  to  trial. 
Some  of  them  have  been  executed,  some  banished.  These  things 
show  the  subtle  currents  and  treacherous  undertows  against  which 
Allied  leaders  and  statesmen  have  had  to  guard  themselves  and 
their  people  from  the  first;  secret  and  sinister  workings  of  evil 
perverting  many  ignorant  victims.  Clemenceau,  taking  hold  of 
France,  flung  her  into  the  conflict  with  new  vigor,  new  enthusiasm, 
new  courage  and  determination,  and  soon  cleaned  out  the  worst 
nests.) 

NOVEMBER  20.  1917— Successful  British  attack  at  Cam- 
bria; First  Extensive  Use  of  "Tanks." 

NOVEMBER  23,  1917— Russians  Begin  Demobilizing  the 
Army. 

NOVEMBER  28,  1917 — Trotsky  begins  publishing  secret 
treaties  from  Russian  archives. 

NOVEMBER  30,  1917 — Germans  Neutralize  Cambrai  Vic- 
tory. 

NOVEMBER  30.  1917— "R.\inbow  Division."  First  United 
States  National  Guard  Contingent,  Arrives  Safely  in 
France. 

DECEMBER  2,  1917 — Russian  Bolsheviki,  under  Trotsky 
AND  Lenine,  Open  Truce  Negotiations  with  Germany. 

DECEMBER  4,  1917 — Congress  meets;  President  Wilson 
delivers  his  annual  message. 

(By  this  time  President  JVilson  was  generally  regarded  as 
the  leader  of  the  world's  war  thoughts  and  peace  principles,  as  press 
clippings  show.  This  address  is  another  ringing  call  for  all  the 
resources  of  the  nation  to  help  put  doivn  this  frightful  thing  that 
ivas  destroying  the  world.  Germany  must  be  left  zvithout  further 
power  for  harm,  or  dented  intercourse  with  the  nations.  All 
peoples,  including  her  present  vassals,  must  be  freed  from  Prussian 
military  and  commercial  autocracy ,  but  ivithout  interference  in 
their  internal  affairs.  President  Itilson  asked  for  a  declaration  of 
a  State  of  l^ar  with  Austria.  Congress  soon  passed  such  a  reso- 
lution.) 

82 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

"WIN  THE  WAR!" 

Address  to  Congress,  December  4,  1917. 
{Complete) 

Gentlemen  of  the  Congress: 

Eight  months  have  elapsed  since  I  last  had  the  honor  of  ad- 
dressing you.  They  have  been  months  crowded  with  events  of 
immense  and  grave  significance  for  us.  I  shall  not  undertake  to 
retail  or  even  to  summarize  those  events.  The  practical  particu- 
lars of  the  part  we  have  played  in  them  will  be  laid  before  you 
in  the  reports  of  the  executive  departments.  I  shall  discuss  only 
our  present  outlook  upon  these  vast  affairs,  our  present  duties, 
and  the  immediate  means  of  accomplishing  the  objects  we  shall 
hold  always  in  view. 

I  shall  not  go  back  to  debate  the  causes  of  the  war.  The 
intolerable  wrongs  done  and  planned  against  us  by  the  sinister 
masters  of  Germany  have  long  since  become  too  grossly  obvious 
and  odious  to  every  true  American  to  need  to  be  rehearsed.  But 
I  shall  ask  you  to  consider  again  and  with  a  very  grave  scrutiny 
our  objectives  and  the  measures  by  which  we  mean  to  attain  them; 
for  the  purpose  of  discussion  here  in  this  place  is  action,  and  our 
action  must  move  straight  toward  definite  ends.  Our  object  is, 
of  course,  to  win  the  war;  and  we  shall  not  slacken  or  suffer  our- 
selves to  be  diverted  until  it  is  won.  But  it  is  worth  while  asking 
and  answering  the  question,  When  shall  we  consider  the  war 
won? 

When  Is  the  War  Won? 

From  one  point  of  view  it  is  not  necessary  to  broach  this 
fundamental  matter.  1  do  not  doubt  that  the  American  people 
know  what  the  war  is  about  and  what  sort  of  an  outcome  they 
will  regard  as  a  realization  of  their  purpose  in  it.  As  a  Nation 
we  are  united  in  spirit  and  intention.  1  pay  little  heed  to  those 
who  tell  me  otherwise.  /  hear  the  voices  of  dissent — who  does 
not?  I  hear  the  criticism  and  the  clamor  of  the  noisily  thought- 
less and  troublesome.  I  also  see  7?ien  here  and  there  fling  them- 
selves in  impotent  disloyalty  against  the  calm,  indomitable  poiver 
of  the  Nation.  I  hear  men  debate  peace  who  understand  neither 
its  nature  nor  the  way  in  which  we  may  attain  it  with  uplifted 
eyes  and  unbroken  spirits.  But  I  know  that  none  of  these  speak 
for  the  Nation.  They  do  not  touch  the  heart  of  anything.  They 
may   safely   be  left  to  strut   their  uneasy   hour  and   be  forgotten. 

But  from  another  point  of  view  I  believe  that  it  is  necessary 
to   say  plainly  what  we  here   at  the   seat   of   action  consider  the 

83 


AMERICANISM 

war  to  be  for  and  what  part  we  mean  to  play  in  the  settlement 
of  its  searching  issues.  We  are  the  spokesmen  of  the  American 
people  and  they  have  a  right  to  know  whether  their  purpose  is 
ours.  They  desire  peace  by  the  overcoming  of  evilj  by  the  defeat 
once  for  all  of  the  sinister  forces  that  interrupt  peace  and  render 
it  impossible,  and  they  wish  to  know  hoiv  closely  our  thought  runs 
zvith  theirs  and  ivhat  action  we  propose.  They  are  impatient  with 
those  who  desire  peace  by  any  sort  of  compromise — deeply  and 
indignantly  impatient — but  they  will  be  equally  impatient  with  us 
if  we  do  not  make  it  plain  to  them  what  our  objectives  are  and 
what  we  are  planning  for  in  seeking  to  make  conquest  of  peace 
by  arms. 

German  Power  Must  Be  Crushed. 

I  believe  that  I  speak  for  them  when  I  say  two  things:  First, 
that  this  intolerable  Thing  of  which  the  masters  of  Germany  have 
shown  us  the  ugly  face,  this  menace  of  combined  intrigue  and 
force  which  we  now  see  so  clearly  as  the  German  pozver,  a  Thing 
uithout  conscience  or  honor  or  capacity  for  covenanted  peace, 
must  be  crushed,  and  if  it  be  not  utterly  brought  to  an  end,  at 
least  shut  out  from  the  friendly  intercourse  of  the  nations:  and^ 
second,  that  when  this  Thing  and  its  pov.-er  are  indeed  defeated 
and  the  time  comes  that  we  can  discuss  peace — when  the  German 
people  have  spokesmen  whose  word  we  can  believe  and  when  those 
spokesmen  are  ready  in  the  name  of  their  people  to  accept  the 
common  judgment  of  the  nations  as  to  what  shall  henceforth  be 
the  bases  of  law  and  of  covenant  for  the  life  of  the  world — we 
shall  be  willing  and  glad  to  pay  the  full  price  for  peace,  and  pay 
it  ungrudgingly.  We  know  what  that  price  will  be.  It  will  be 
full,  impartial  justice — justice  done  at  every  point  and  to  every 
nation  that  the  final  settlement  must  affect  our  enemies  as  well 
as  our  friends. 

You  catch,  with  me,  the  voices  of  humanity  that  are  in  the 
air.  They  grow  daily  more  audible,  more  articulate,  more  per- 
suasive, and  they  come  from  the  hearts  of  men  everywhere.  They 
insist  that  the  ivar  shall  not  end  in  vindictive  action  of  any  kind: 
that  no  nation  or  peoples  shall  be  robbed  or  punished  because  the 
irresponsible  rulers  of  a  single  country  have  themselves  done  deep 
and  abominable  wrong.  It  is  this  thought  that  has  been  expressed 
in  the  formula  "No  annexations,  no  contributions,  no  punitive 
indemnities."  Just  because  this  crude  formula  expresses  the  in- 
stinctive judgment  as  to  right  of  plain  men  everywhere  it  has 
been  made  diligent  use  of  by  the  masters  of  German  intrigue  to 
lead  the  people  of  Russia  astray — and  the  people  of  every  other 
countr\   their  agents  could  reach,  in  order  that  a  premature  peace 

84 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

might  be  brought  about  before  autocracy  has  been  taught  its  final 
and  convincing  lesson,  and  the  people  of  the  world  put  in  control 
of  their  own  destinies. 

But  the  fact  that  a  wrong  use  has  been  made  of  a  just  idea 
is  no  reason  why  a  right  use  should  not  be  made  of  it.  It  ought 
to  be  brought  under  the  patronage  of  its  real  friends.  Let  it  be 
said  again  that  autocracy  must  first  be  shown  the  utter  futility 
of  its  claims  to  power  or  leadership  in  the  modern  world.  It  is 
impossible  to  apply  any  standard  of  justice  so  long  as  such  forces 
are  unchecked  and  undefeated  as  the  present  masters  of  Germany 
command.  Not  until  that  has  been  done  can  Right  be  set  up  as 
arbiter  and  peacemaker  among  the  nations.  But  when  that  has 
been  done — as,  God  willing,  it  assuredly  will  be — we  shall  at  last 
be  free  to  do  an  unprecedented  thing,  and  this  is  the  time  to  avow 
our  purpose  to  do  it.  We  shall  be  free  to  base  peace  on  gener- 
osity and  justice,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  selfish  claims  to  advan- 
tage even  on  the  part  of  the  victors. 

A  Peace  of  Deliverance. 

Let  there  be  no  misunderstanding.  Our  present  and  imme- 
diate task  is  to  win  the  war,  and  nothing  shall  turn  us  aside  from 
it  until  it  is  accomplished.  Every  power  and  resource  we  possess, 
whether  of  men,  of  money,  or  materials,  is  being  devoted  and  will 
continue  to  be  devoted  to  that  purpose  until  it  is  achieved.  Those 
who  desire  to  bring  peace  about  before  that  purpose  is  achieved 
I  counsel  to  carry  their  advice  elsewhere.  We  will  not  entertain 
it.  We  shall  regard  the  war  as  won  only  when  the  German 
people  say  to  us,  through  properly  accredited  representatives,  that 
they  are  ready  to  agree  to  a  settlement  based  upon  justice  and 
the  reparation  of  the  wrongs  their  rulers  have  done.  They  have 
done  a  wrong  to  Belgium  which  must  be  repaired.  They  have 
established  a  power  over  other  lands  and  peoples  than  their  own 
— over  the  great  Empire  of  Austria-Hungary,  over  hitherto  free 
Balkan  states,  over  Turkey,  and  within  Asia — which  must  be  re- 
linquished. 

Germany's  success  by  skill,  by  industry,  by  knowledge,  by 
enterprise,  we  did  not  grudge  or  oppose,  but  admired,  rather.  She 
had  built  up  for  herself  a  real  empire  of  trade  and  influence, 
secured  by  the  peace  of  the  world.  We  were  content  to  abide  the 
rivalries  of  manufacture,  science,  and  commerce  that  were  involved 
for  us  in  her  success  and  stand  or  fall  as  we  had  or  did  not  have 
the  brains  and  the  initiative  to  surpass  her.  But  at  the  moment 
when  she  had  conspicuously  won  her  triumphs  of  peace  she  threw 
them   away  to   establish   in  their   stead   what  the   world   will   no 

85 


AMERICANISM 

longer  permit  to  be  established,  military  and  political  domination 
by  arms  by  which  to  oust  where  she  could  not  excel  the  rivals  she 
most  feared  and  hated.  The  peace  we  make  must  remedy  that 
wrong.  It  must  deliver  the  once  fair  lands  and  happy  peoples 
of  Belgium  and  northern  France  from  the  Prussian  conquest  and 
the  Prussian  menace,  but  it  must  also  deliver  the  peoples  of 
Austria-Hungary,  the  peoples  of  the  Balkans,  and  the  peoples  of 
Turkey,  alike  in  Europe  and  in  Asia,  from  the  impudent  and  alien 
dominion  of  the  Prussian  military  and  commercial  autocracy. 

No  Internal  Meddling 

We  owe  it,  however,  to  ourselves  to  say  that  we  do  not  wish 
in  any  way  to  impair  or  to  rearrange  the  Austro-Hungarian  Em- 
pire. It  is  no  affair  of  ours  what  they  do  with  their  own  life, 
either  industrially  or  politically.  We  do  not  purpose  or  desire 
to  dictate  to  them  in  any  way.  We  only  desire  to  see  that  their 
affairs  are  left  in  their  own  hands,  in  all  matters,  great  or  small. 
We  shall  hope  to  secure  for  the  people  of  the  Balkan  peninsula 
and  for  the  people  of  the  Turkish  Empire  the  right  and  oppor- 
tunity to  make  their  own  lives  safe,  their  own  fortunes  secure 
against  oppression  or  injustice  and  from  the  dictation  of  foreign 
courts  or  parties. 

And  our  attitude  and  purpose  with  regard  to  Germany  her- 
self are  of  a  like  kind.  We  intend  no  wrong  against  the  German 
Empire,  no  interference  with  her  internal  affairs.  We  should 
deem  either  the  one  or  the  other  absolutely  unjustifiable,  abso- 
lutely contrary  to  the  principles  we  have  professed  to  live  by  and 
to  hold  most  sacred  throughout  our  life  as  a  nation. 

The  people  of  Germany  are  being  told  by  the  men  whom 
they  now  permit  to  deceive  them  and  to  act  as  their  masters  that 
they  are  fighting  for  the  very  life  and  existence  of  their  Empire, 
a  war  of  desperate  self-defense  against  deliberate  aggression. 
Nothing  could  be  more  grossly  or  wantonly  false,  and  we  must 
seek  by  the  utmost  openness  and  candor  as  to  our  real  aims  to 
convince  them  of  its  falseness.  We  are  in  fact  fighting  for  their 
emancipation  from  fear,  along  with  our  own — from  the  fear  as 
well  as  from  the  fact  of  unjust  attack  by  neighbors  or  rivals  or 
schemers  after  world  empire.  No  one  is  threatening  the  exist- 
ence or  the  independence  or  the  peaceful  enterprise  of  the  German 
Empire. 

The  worst  that  can  happen  to  the  detriment  of  the  German 
people  is  this,  that  if  they  should  still,  after  the  war  is  over, 
continue  to  be  obliged  to  live  under  ambitious  and  intriguing 
masters  interested  to  disturb  the  peace  of  the  world,  men  or  classes 

86 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

of  men  whom  the  other  peoples  of  the  world  could  not  trust,  it 
might  be  impossible  to  admit  them  to  the  partnership  of  nations 
which  must  henceforth  guarantee  the  world's  peace.  That  part- 
nership must  be  a  partnership  of  peoples,  not  a  mere  partnership 
of  governments.  It  might  be  impossible,  also,  in  such  untoward 
circumstances,  to  admit  Germany  to  the  free  economic  intercourse 
which  must  inevitably  spring  out  of  the  other  partnerships  of  a 
real  peace.  But  there  would  be  no  aggression  in  that ;  and  such 
a  situation,  inevitable  because  of  distrust,  would  in  the  very  nature 
of  things  sooner  or  later  cure  itself,  by  processes  which  would 
assuredly  set  in. 

No  Retaliating  Wrongs. 

The  wrongs,  the  very  deep  wrongs,  committed  in  this  war 
will  have  to  be  righted.  That  of  course.  But  they  cannot  and 
must  not  be  righted  by  the  commission  of  similar  wrongs  against 
Germany  and  her  allies.  The  world  will  not  permit  the  commis- 
sion of  similar  wrongs  as  a  means  of  reparation  and  settlement. 
Statesmen  must  by  this  time  have  learned  that  the  opinion  of  the 
world  is  everywhere  wide  awake  and  fully  comprehends  the  issues 
involved.  No  representative  of  any  self-governed  nation  will  dare 
disregard  it  by  attempting  any  such  covenants  of  selfishness  and 
compromise  as  were  entered  into  at  the  Congress  of  Vienna.  The 
thought  of-  the  plain  people  here  and  everywhere  throughout 
the  world,  the  people  who  enjoy  no  privilege  and  have  very  simple 
and  unsophisticated  standards  of  right  and  wrong,  is  the  air  all 
governments  must  henceforth  breathe  if  they  would  live.  It  is 
in  the  full  disclosing  light  of  that  thought  that  all  policies  must 
be  conceived  and  executed  in  this  midday  hour  of  the  world's  life. 
German  rulers  have  been  able  to  upset  the  peace  of  the  world 
only  because  the  German  people  were  not  suffered  under  their 
tutelage  to  share  the  comradeship  of  the  other  peoples  of  the  world 
either  in  thought  or  in  purpose.  They  were  allowed  to  have  no 
opinion  of  their  own  which  might  be  set  up  as  a  rule  of  conduct 
for  those  who  exercised  authority  over  thein.  But  the  congress 
that  concludes  this  war  will  feel  the  full  strength  of  the  tides 
that  run  now  in  the  hearts  and  consciences  of  free  men  everywhere. 
Its  conclusions  will  run  with  those  tides. 

Truth  Must  Be  Uttered;  Right  Must  Be  Done. 

All  these  things  have  been  true  from  the  very  beginning  of 
this  stupendous  war;  and  I  cannot  help  thinking  that  if  they  had 
been  made  plain  at  the  very  outset  the  sympathy  and  enthusiasm 
of  the  Russian  people  might  have  been  once  for  all  enlisted  on  the 
side  of  the  allies,  suspicion   and   distrust  swept  away,  and  a  real 

87 


AMERICANISM 

and  lasting  union  of  purpose  effected.  Had  they  believed  these 
things  at  the  very  moment  of  their  revolution  and  had  they  been 
confirmed  in  that  belief  since,  the  sad  reverses  which  have  recently 
marked  the  progress  of  their  affairs  toward  an  ordered  and  stable 
government  of  free  men  might  have  been  avoided.  The  Russian 
people  have  been  poisoned  by  the  very  same  falsehoods  that  have 
kept  the  German  people  in  the  dark,  and  the  poison  has  been  ad- 
ministered by  the  very  same  hands.  The  only  possible  antidote 
is  the  truth.     It  cannot  be  uttered  too  plainly  or  too  often. 

From  every  point  of  view,  therefore,  it  has  seemed  to  be  my 
duty  to  speak  these  declarations  of  purpose,  to  add  these  specific 
interpretations  to  what  I  took  the  liberty  of  saying  to  the  Senate 
in  January.  Our  entrance  into  the  war  has  not  altered  our  atti- 
tude toward  the  settlement  that  must  come  when  it  is  over.  When 
I  said  in  January  that  the  nations  of  the  world  were  entitled  not 
only  to  free  pathways  upon  the  sea,  but  also  to  assured  and 
unmolested  access  to  those  pathways,  I  was  thinking,  and  I  am 
thinking  now,  not  of  the  smaller  and  weaker  nations  alone,  which 
need  our  countenance  and  support,  but  also  of  the  great  and  pow- 
erful nations,  and  of  our  present  enemies  as  well  as  our  present 
associates  in  the  war.  I  was  thinking,  and  am  thinking  now,  of 
Austria  herself,  among  the  rest,  as  well  as  of  Serbia  and  of 
Poland.  Justice  and  equality  of  right  can  be  had  only  at  a  great 
price.  We  are  seeking  permanent,  not  temporary,  foundations  for 
the  peace  of  the  world  and  must  seek  them  candidly  and  fearlessly. 
As  always,  the  right  will  prove  to  be  the  expedient. 

What  shall  we  do,  then,  to  push  this  great  war  of  freedom 
and  justice  to  its  righteous  conclusion?  We  must  clear  away  with 
a  thorough  hand  all  impediments  to  success,  and  we  must  make 
every  adjustment  of  law  that  will  facilitate  the  full  and  free  use 
of  our  w^hole  capacity  and  force  as  a  fighting  unit. 

Declare  a  State  of  War  With  Austria. 

One  very  embarrassing  obstacle  that  stands  in  our  way  is  that 
we  are  at  war  with  Germany,  but  not  with  her  allies.  I  there- 
fore very  earnestly  recommend  that  the  Congress  immediately 
declare  the  United  States  in  a  state  of  war  with  Austria-Hungary. 
Does  it  seem  strange  to  you  that  this  should  be  the  conclusion  of 
the  argument  I  have  just  addressed  to  30U?  It  is  not.  It  is,  in 
fact,  the  inevitable  logic  of  what  I  have  said.  Austria-Hungary 
is  for  the  time  being  not  her  own  mistress,  but  simply  the  vassal 
of  the  German  Government.  We  must  face  the  facts  as  they 
are  and  act  upon  them  without  sentiment  in  this  stern  business. 
The  Government  of  Austria-Hungary  is  not  acting  upon  its  own 

88 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

initiative  or  in  response  to  the  wishes  and  feelings  of  its  own 
peoples,  but  as  the  instrument  of  another  nation.  We  must  meet 
its  force  with  our  own  and  regard  the  Central  Powers  as  but 
one.  The  war  can  be  successfullj'  conducted  in  no  other  way. 
The  same  logic  would  lead  also  to  a  declaration  of  war  against 
Turkey  and  Bulgaria.  They  also  are  the  tools  of  Germany.  But 
they  are  mere  tools,  and  do  not  yet  stand  in  the  direct  path  of 
our  necessary  action.  We  shall  go  wherever  the  necessities  of 
this  war  carry  us,  but  it  seems  to  me  that  we  should  go  only 
where  immediate  and  practical  considerations  lead  us  and  not  heed 
any  others. 

The  financial  and  military  measures  which  must  be  adopted 
will  suggest  themselves  as  the  war  and  its  undertakings  develop, 
but  I  will  take  the  liberty  of  proposing  to  you  certain  other  acts 
of  legislation  which  seem  to  me  to  be  needed  for  the  support  of 
the  war  and  for  the  release  of  our  whole  force  and  energy. 

Other  Things  To  Do. 

It  will  be  necessary  to  extend  in  certain  particulars  the  legis- 
lation of  the  last  session  with  regard  to  alien  enemies;  and  also 
necessary,  I  believe,  to  create  a  very  definite  and  particular  con- 
trol over  the  entrance  and  departure  of  all  persons  into  and  from 
the  United  States. 

Legislation  should  be  enacted  defining  as  a  criminal  offense 
every  willful  violation  of  the  presidential  proclamation  relating 
to  alien  enemies  promulgated  under  section  4067  of  the  Revised 
Statutes  and  providing  appropriate  punishment;  and  women  as 
well  as  men  should  be  included  under  the  terms  of  the  acts  placing 
restraints  upon  alien  enemies.  It  is  likely  that  as  time  goes  on 
many  alien  enemies  will  be  willing  to  be  fed  and  housed  at  the 
expense  of  the  Government  in  the  detention  camps,  and  it  would 
be  the  purpose  of  the  legislation  I  have  suggested  to  confine  offen- 
ders among  them  in  penitentiaries  and  other  similar  institutions 
where  they  could  be  made  to  work  as  other  criminals  do. 

Recent  experience  has  convinced  me  that  the  Congress  must 
go  further  in  authorizing  the  Government  to  set  limits  to  prices. 
The  law  of  supply  and  demand.  I  am  sorry  to  say,  has  been  re- 
placed by  the  law  of  unrestrained  selfishness.  While  we  have 
eliminated  profiteering  in  several  branches  of  industry  it  still  runs 
impudently  rampant  in  others.  The  farmers,  for  example,  complain 
with  a  great  deal  of  justice  that,  while  the  regulation  of  food 
prices  restricts  their  incomes,  no  restraints  are  placed  upon  the 
prices  of  most  of  the  things  they  must  themselves  purchase;  and 
similar  inequities  obtain  on  all  sides. 

89 


AMERICANISM 

It  is  imperatively  necessary  that  the  consideration  of  the  full 
use  of  the  water  power  of  the  country,  and  also  the  consideration 
of  the  systematic  and  yet  economical  development  of  such  of  the 
natural  resources  of  the  country  as  are  still  under  the  control 
of  the  Federal  Government,  should  be  immediately  resumed  and 
affirmatively  and  constructively  dealt  with  at  the  earliest  possible 
moment.  The  pressing  need  of  such  legislation  is  daily  becoming 
more  obvious. 

The  legislation  proposed  at  the  last  session  with  regard  to 
regulated  combinations  among  our  exporters,  in  order  to  provide 
for  our  foreign  trade  a  more  effective  organization  and  method 
of  cooperation,  ought  by  all  means  to  be  completed  at  this  session. 

And  I  beg  that  the  members  of  the  House  of  Representatives 
will  permit  me  to  express  the  opinion  that  it  will  be  impossible 
to  deal  in  any  but  a  very  wasteful  and  extravagant  fashion  with 
the  enormous  appropriations  of  the  public  moneys  which  must  con- 
tinue to  be  made,  if  the  war  is  to  be  properly  sustained,  unless 
the  House  will  consent  to  its  former  practice  of  initiating  and 
preparing  all  appropriation  bills  through  a  single  committee,  in 
order  that  responsibility  may  be  centered,  expenditures  standard- 
ized and  made  uniform,  and  waste  and  duplication  as  much  as 
possible  avoided. 

Additional  legislation  may  also  become  necessary  before  the 
present  Congress  again  adjourns  in  order  to  effect  the  most  effi- 
cient co-ordination  and  operation  of  the  railway  and  other  trans- 
portation systems  of  the  country;  but  to  that  I  shall,  if  circum- 
stances should  demand,  call  the  attention  of  the  Congress  upon 
another  occasion. 

If  I  have  overlooked  anything  that  ought  to  be  done  for  the 
more  effective  conduct  of  the  war,  your  own  counsels  will  supply 
the  omission.  What  I  am  perfectly  clear  about  is  that  in  the 
present  session  of  the  Congress  our  whole  attention  and  energy 
should  be  concentrated  on  the  vigorous,  rapid,  and  successful  prose- 
cution of  the  great  task  of  winning  the  war. 

No  Selfish  Ambition  in  War. 

We  can  do  this  with  all  the  greater  zeal  and  enthusiasm 
because  we  know  that  for  us  this  is  a  war  of  high  principle,  de- 
based by  no  selfish  ambition  of  conquest  or  spoliation;  because 
we  know,  and  all  the  world  knows,  that  we  have  been  forced 
into  it  to  save  the  very  institutions  we  live  under  from  corruption 
and  destruction.  The  purposes  of  the  Central  Pouers  strike 
straight  at  the  very  heart  of  everything  we  believe  in;  their  meth- 
ods of  warfare  outrage  every  principle   of  humanity  and  knightly 

90 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

honor;  their  intrigue  has  corrupted  the  very  thought  and  spirit 
of  many  of  our  people;  their  sinister  and  secret  diplomacy  has 
sought  to  take  our  very  territory  away  from  us  and  disrupt  the 
Union  of  the  States.  Our  safety  would  be  at  an  end,  our  honor 
forever  sullied  and  brought  into  contetnpt  were  we  to  permit  their 
triumph.  They  are  striking  at  the  very  existence  of  democracy 
and  liberty. 

It  is  because  it  is  for  us  a  war  of  high,  disinterested  purpose, 
in  which  all  the  free  peoples  of  the  world  are  banded  together  for 
the  vindication  of  right,  a  war  for  the  preservation  of  our  nation 
and  of  all  that  it  has  held  dear  of  principle  and  of  purpose,  that  we 
feel  ourselves  doubly  constrained  to  propose  for  its  outcome  only 
that  which  is  righteous  and  of  irreproachable  intention,  for  our  foes 
as  well  as  for  our  friends.  The  cause  being  just  and  holy,  the  set- 
tlement must  be  of  like  motive  and  quality.  For  this  we  can  fight, 
but  for  nothing  less  noble  or  less  worthy  of  our  traditions.  For 
this  cause  we  entered  the  war  and  for  this  cause  will  we  battle 
until  the  last  gun  is  fired. 

I  have  spoken  plainly  because  this  seems  to  me  the  time  when 
it  is  most  necessary  to  speak  plainly,  in  order  that  all  the  world 
may  know  that  even  in  the  heat  and  ardor  of  the  struggle  and  when 
our  whole  thought  is  of  carrying  the  war  through  to  its  end  we 
have  not  forgotten  any  ideal  or  principle  for  which  the  name  of 
America  has  been  held  in  honor  among  the  nations  and  for  which 
it  has  been  our  glory  to  contend  in  the  great  generations  that  went 
before  us.  A  supreme  moment  of  history  has  come.  The  eyes  of 
the  people  have  been  opened  and  they  see.  The  hand  of  God  is 
laid  upon  the  nations.  He  will  show  them  favor,  I  devoutly  believe, 
only  if  they  rise  to  clear  heights  of  His  own  justice  and  mercy. 

Comments,  Fifth  Annual  Message  to  Congress, 
December  4,   1917. 

Theodore  Roosevelt:  "The  heart  of  the  American  people  will 
answer  a  devout  'Amen!'  " 

New  York  Evening  Post:  "The  Allies  are  content  to  acquiesce 
in  the  President's  intellectual  and  moral  leadership." 

If'ashington  Herald:  "The  President  answered  the  people 
.  .  .  he  has  paused  long  enough  to  give  thought  to  just  those 
things  which  have  bothered  you  and  me." 

Chicago  Herald:  "His  central  thought  was  of  the  larger,  the 
international,  the  more  permanent  aspects  of  the  war." 

Philadelphia  Public  Ledger:  "It  is  one  of  the  most  notable 
state  papers  in  our  generation." 

91 


AMERICANISM 

Louisville  Courier-Journal:  "As  President  Wilson  stood  be- 
fore Congress  he  voiced  the  calm,  indomitable  power  of  the  nation 
in  words  and  in  a  spirit  which  finds  an  invincible  response  in  every 
American  heart  and  in  every  democratic  brain  throughout  all  the 
world  that  has  called  a  halt  on  Kaiserdom.  Truly,  this  man  seems 
to  have  been  raised  up  to  lead  us  in  this  supreme  crisis." 

St.  Louis  Republic:  "Sweeps  away  all  the  sophistries  of  the 
professional  peacemaker." 

Cleveland  Plain  Dealer:  "Emphasizes  anew  his  character  as 
an  International  leader." 

The  Christian  Science  Monitor:  "The  President's  message  to 
Congress  is  one  of  those  sane,  statesmanlike  and  serene  pronounce- 
ments which  not  only  the  United  States,  but  the  whole  body  of  the 
Allies,  have  come  to  look  to  him  for." 

Boston  Globe:  "The  people  of  the  Entente  countries  will  rec- 
ognize the  spokesman  of  their  aspirations  and  exert  great  pressure 
on  any  reluctant  leaders." 

Boston  Post:  "The  war  will  be  ended  the  sooner  by  reason 
of  it." 

Boston  Advertiser:  "Peace  terms  on  which  the  American 
people  will  stand  pat.  They  fulfill  the  expectations  of  liberals  the 
world  over." 

New  York  World:  "A  ringing  note  of  leadership  to  all  the 
nations.    ...   A  great  war  message  and  a  great  peace  message." 

London  Daily  Mail:  "Whenever  he  speaks  it  is  as  though 
America,  with  its  100,000.000  people,  blew  a  blast  on  a  single 
trumpet." 

London  Evening  Standard:  "We  have  always  thought  that  a 
great  opportunity  was  missed  by  the  European  Allies  when  they 
failed  to  adopt  heartily  and  without  qualification  the  high  aims  set 
forth  by  the  President,  which  will  appeal  to  the  best  elements  in 
every  country  and  may  possibly  evoke  some  response  even  in  Ger- 
many. If  the  Wilson  policy  had  been  accepted  as  that  of  all  the 
Allies  and  blazoned  forth  in  a  joint  declaration,  there  would  have 
been  less  chance  of  that  audacious  and  mendacious  misrepresenta- 
tion of  which  we  see  the  vast  results  in  Russia.  The  frank  ac- 
ceptance of  the  principles  enunciated  by  all  the  governments  and 
the  peoples  warring  against  Germany  would  contribute  largely 
to  their  success   in   arms." 

London  Daily  News:  "If  the  President  could  have  said  earlier 
what  he  said  today,  and  if  in  Britain  and  France  and  Italy  the 
responsible  leaders  of  these  nations  had  made  his  language  their 
own,  Russia  might  today  be  driving  the  German  armies  from  her 

92 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

borders.  .  .  .  Another  example  of  comprehension  b}-  which  he 
clarified  fundamental  issues  of  the  war.  ...  It  would  be  affecta- 
tion to  pretend  that  the  speech  echoes  the  declaration  of  Allied 
statesmen.     His  vision  comprehends  the  world;  theirs  only  half." 

London  Times:  "President  Wilson  has  restated  the  Allies' 
purpose  with  uncompromising  force." 

London  Globe:  "President  Wilson's  addresses  come  as  a 
purifying  breeze  from  the  new  world  to  the  old." 

Pall  Mall  Gazette:  "The  most  direct  appeal  to  a  practical 
handling  of  the  muddle  of  the  eastern  question  yet  made  by  any 
Allied  statesman." 

DECEMBER  10,  1917— British  capture  Jerusalem. 

DECEMBER  14,  1917 — Lloyd     George     endorses     President 
Wilson's  address  to  Congress. 

DECEMBER  16,  1917— Bolsheviki  Sign  Truce  of  28  Days 
WITH  Germany. 

DECEMBER  18.  1917 — Prohibition  amendment  passes  Con- 
gress and  goes  to  the  states  for  ratification. 

DECEMBER  20,  1917 — Lloyd   George   states    British    peace 
terms  in  House  of  Commons. 

DECEMBER  23,  1917— Germany    and    Russia    Open    Peace 
Negotiations  at  Brest-Litovsk. 

DECEMBER  23,  1917— Bethlehem  Captured  by  British. 

DECEMBER  25,  1917— Another  German    Peace  Offensive, 
Launched  from  Brest-Litovsk. 

{Germany,  counting  upon  ivar-iveariness  amongst  the  Allied 
people,  and  knoiving  that  the  suggestions  of  peace  had  crept  abroad 
through  numerous  channels  from  Brest-Litovsk,  considered  the 
time  propitious  for  another  attempt  to  gain  by  psychology  what 
she  had  not  been  able  to  gain  by  arms.  Her  political  spokesmen 
proposed,  therefore,  for  all  of  Russia's  allies,  a  peace  ivithout 
annexation  or  indemnity,  and  restoration  of  political  independence 
to  all  nations  suffering  the  loss  of  it  through  the  luar.  Germany 
meanwhile  had  been  busy  at  the  conference  making  everything 
ready    to    despoil  Russia    of  vast   territory.      The    German    device 

93 


AMERICANISM 

for  doing  this  was  typical.  Picking  out  figureheads  as  ostensible 
representatives  of  various  Russian  provinces,  she  insolently  and 
cynically  asserted  upon  the  authority  of  these  dummy  representa- 
tives that  such  provinces  desired  autonomy  from  Russia,  under 
German  protection,  and  that  they  were  entitled  to  it  under  the 
JVilson  doctrine  of  self-determination,  or  the  right  of  every  people 
to  determine  for  themselves  hoiv  they  should  be  ruled!) 

DECEMBER  25,  1917 — Another    German    peace    offensive 

LAUNCHED   FROM    BrEST-LiTOVSK. 

DECEMBER  26,  1917 — The    Government    takes    over    the 

RAILROADS. 

{President  If'ilson  proclaimed  all  railroads  under  Government 
control,  with  IVilliam  G.  McAdoo  as  Director-General.) 

JANUARY  3,  1918 — German  Demands  Obstruct  Peace  Nego- 
tiations with  the  Bolsheviki. 

JANUARY  3,  1918 — Germany  Breaks  Truce  Agreement  by 
Refusing  to  Withdraw  Troops  from   Russian  Soil. 

JANUARY  5,  1918 — Lloyd  George  restates  British  war  aims. 

{This  was  England's  counter  to  the  latest  peace  offensive.  The 
British  Premier  insisted  upon  restoration  and  reparation,  but  de- 
nied an  intention  of  destroying  the  Central  Empires  as  political 
states.) 

JANUARY  8,  1918 — President  Wilson  restates  war  aims. 

( This  was  President  IPilson's  answer  to  the  Brest-Litovsk 
peace  offensive.  Germany  had  again  slioivn  her  intriguing,  hypo- 
critical duplicity  in  the  negotiations  for  a  separate  peace  ivith 
Russia.  President  If'ilson  found  in  the  situation  another  occa- 
sion offering  an  opportunity  to  announce  to  the  world,  in  terms  not 
to  be  misinterpreted  or  misunderstood,  the  Allied  war  aims.  Three 
days  before,  Lloyd  George  had  made  a  similar  announcement,  less 
definite  and  lurid,  but  so  much  to  the  same  purpose  that  no  sug- 
gestion of  a  lack  of  unity  could  creep  in.  In  this  speech  President 
If  ilson  lays  doicn  categorically  a  definite  peace  platform  of  14 
planks.) 

94 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

"A  PLATFORM  OF  WORLD  PEACE." 

President  Wilson^s  Address  to  Congress,  Stating  the  War 
Aims  and  Peace  Terms  of  the  United  States. 
{Complete) 
Gentlemen  of  the  Congress: 

Once  more,  as  repeatedly  before,  the  spokesmen  of  the  Central 
Empires  have  indicated  their  desire  to  discuss  the  objects  of  the 
war  and  the  possible  basis  of  a  general  peace.  Parle\'s  have  been 
in  progress  at  Brest-Litovsk  between  Russian  representatives  and 
representatives  of  the  Central  Powers  to  which  the  attention  of  all 
the  belligerents  has  been  invited  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining 
whether  it  may  be  possible  to  extend  these  parleys  into  a  general 
conference  with  regard  to  terms  of  peace  and  settlement. 

The  Russian  representatives  presented  not  only  a  perfectly 
definite  statement  of  the  principles  upon  which  they  would  be  will- 
ing to  conclude  peace  but  also  an  equally  definite  program  of  the 
concrete  application  of  those  principles.  The  representatives  of 
the  Central  Powers,  on  their  part,  presented  an  outline  of  settle- 
ment which,  if  much  less  definite,  seemed  susceptible  of  liberal 
interpretation  until  their  specific  program  of  practical  terms  was 
added.  That  program  proposed  no  concessions  at  all  either  to  the 
sovereignty  of  Russia  or  to  the  preferences  of  the  populations  with 
whose  fortunes  it  dealt,  but  meant,  in  a  word,  that  the  Central 
Empires  were  to  keep  every  foot  of  territory  their  armed  forces 
had  occupied — every  province,  every  city,  every  point  of  vantage — 
as  a  permanent  addition  to  their  territories  and  their  power. 

Whose  Was  the  German  Voice  We  Heard? 

It  is  a  reasonable  conjecture  that  the  general  principles  of 
settlement  which  they  at  first  suggested  originated  with  the  more 
liberal  statesmen  of  Germany  and  Austria,  the  men  who  have  begun 
to  feel  the  force  of  their  own  people's  thought  and  purpose,  while 
the  concrete  terms  of  actual  settlement  came  from  the  military 
leaders  who  have  no  thought  but  to  keep  what  they  have  got.  The 
negotiations  have  been  broken  off.  The  Russian  representatives 
were  sincere  and  in  earnest.  They  cannot  entertain  such  proposals 
of  cofiquest  and  domination. 

The  whole  incident  is  full  of  significance.  It  is  also  full  of  per- 
plexity. With  whom  are  the  Russian  representatives  dealing?  For 
whom  are  the  representatives  of  the  Central  Empires  speaking? 
Are  they  speaking  for  the  majorities  of  their  respective  parliaments 
or  for  the  minority  parties,  that  military  and  imperialistic  minority 
which  has  so  far  dominated  their  whole  policy  and  controlled  the 

95 


AMERICAxN'ISM 

affairs  of  Turkey  and  of  the  Balkan  states  which  have  felt  obliged 
to  become  their  associates  in  this  war? 

The  Russian  representatives  have  insisted,  very  justly,  very 
wisely,  and  in  the  true  spirit  of  modern  democracy,  that  the  con- 
ferences they  have  been  holding  with  the  Teutonic  and  Turkish 
statesmen  should  be  held  within  open,  not  closed,  doors,  and  all  the 
world  has  been  audience,  as  was  desired.  To  whom  have  we  been 
listening,  then?  To  those  who  speak  the  spirit  and  intention  of 
the  resolutions  of  the  German  Reichstag  of  the  9th  of  July  last, 
the  spirit  and  intention  of  Liberal  leaders  and  parties  of  Germany, 
or  to  those  who  resist  and  defy  that  spirit  and  intention  and  insist 
upon  conquest  and  subjugation?  Or  are  we  listening,  in  fact,  to 
both,  unreconciled  and  in  open  and  hopeless  contradiction?  These 
are  very  serious  and  pregnant  questions.  Upon  the  answer  to  them 
depends  the  peace  of  the  world. 

Germany  Challenges  Us  to  State  Our  Alms. 

But,  whatever  the  results  of  the  parle\s  at  Brest-Litovsk, 
whatever  the  confusions  of  counsel  and  of  purpose  in  the  utter- 
ances of  the  spokesmen  of  the  Central  Empires,  they  have  again 
attempted  to  acquaint  the  world  with  their  objects  in  the  war  and 
have  again  challenged  their  adversaries  to  say  what  their  objects 
are  and  what  sort  of  settlement  they  would  deem  just  and  satis- 
factory. There  is  no  good  reason  why  that  challenge  should  not 
be  responded  to,  and  responded  to  with  the  utmost  candor.  We 
did  not  wait  for  it.  Not  once,  but  again  and  again,  we  have  laid 
our  whole  thought  and  purpose  before  the  world,  not  in  general 
terms  only,  but  each  time  with  sufficient  definition  to  make  it  clear 
what  sort  of  definite  terms  of  settlement  must  necessarily  spring 
out  of  them.  Within  the  last  week  Mr.  Lloyd  George  has  spoken 
with  admirable  candor  and  in  admirable  spirit  for  the  people  and 
Government  of  Great  Britain. 

There  is  no  confusion  of  counsel  ajiiong  the  adversaries  of 
tJie  Central  Poivers,  no  uncertainty  of  principle,  no  vagueness  of 
detail.  The  only  secrecy  of  counsel,  the  only  lack  of  fearless- 
frankness,  the  only  failure  to  make  definite  statement  of  the  objects 
of  the  ivar,  lies  icith  Germany  and  Iter  allies.  The  issues  of  life 
and  death  hang  upon  these  definitions.  No  statesman  who  has 
the  least  conception  of  his  responsibility  ought  for  a  moment  to 
permit  himself  to  continue  this  tragical  and  appalling  outpouring 
of  blood  and  treasure  imless  he  is  sure  beyond  a  peradventure  that 
the  objects  of  the  vital  sacrifice  are  part  and  parcel  of  the  very 
life  of  Society  and  that  the  people  for  whom  he  speaks  think  them 
right  and  imperative  as  he  does. 

96 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

The  Voice  of  Russia  Calls. 

There  is,  moreover,  a  voice  calling  for  these  definitions  of 
principle  and  of  purpose  which  is,  it  sems  to  me,  more  thrilling 
and  more  compelling  than  any  of  the  many  moving  voices  w^ith 
which  the  troubled'  air  of  the  world  is  filled.  It  is  the  voice  of 
the  Russian  people.  They  are  prostrate  and  all  but  helpless,  it 
would  seem,  before  the  grim  power  of  Germany,  which  has 
hitherto  known  no  relenting  and  no  pity.  Their  power,  appar- 
ently, is  shattered.  And  yet  their  soul  is  not  subservient.  They 
will  not  yield  either  in  principle  or  in  action.  Their  conception 
of  what  is  right,  of  what  is  humane  and  honorable  for  them  to 
accept,  has  been  stated  with  a  frankness,  a  largeness  of  view,  a 
generosity  of  spirit,  and  a  universal  human  sympathy  which  must 
challenge  the  admiration  of  every  friend  of  mankind;  and  they 
have  refused  to  compound  their  ideals  or  desert  others  that  they 
themselves  may  be  safe. 

They  call  to  us  to  say  what  it  is  that  we  desire,  in  what,  if 
in  anything,  our  purpose  and  our  spirit  differ  from  theirs;  and  I 
believe  that  the  people  of  the  United  States  would  wish  me  to 
respond,  with  utter  simplicity  and  frankness.  Whether  their  pres- 
ent leaders  believe  it  or  not,  it  is  our  heartfelt  desire  and  hope 
that  some  way  may  be  opened  whereby  we  may  be  privileged  to 
assist  the  people  of  Russia  to  attain  their  utmost  hope  of  liberty 
and  ordered  peace. 

It  will  be  our  wish  and  purpose  that  the  processes  of  peace, 
when  they  are  begun,  shall  be  absolutely  open  and  that  they  shall 
involve  and  permit  henceforth  no  secret  understandings  of  anj* 
kind.  The  day  of  conquest  and  aggrandizement  is  gone  by;  so 
is  also  the  day  of  secret  covenants  entered  into  in  the  interest  of 
particular  governments  and  likely  at  some  unlooked-for  moment 
to  upset  the  peace  of  the  world.  It  is  this  happy  fact,  now  clear 
to  the  view  of  every  public  man  whose  thoughts  do  not  still  linger 
in  an  age  that  is  dead  and  gone,  which  makes  it  possible  for  every 
nation  whose  purposes  are  consistent  with  justice  and  the  peace 
of  the  world  to  avow  now  or  at  any  other  time  the  objects  it  has 
in  view. 

Here  Is  What  We  Are  Fighting  For. 

We  entered  this  war  because  violations  of  right  had  occurred 
which  touched  us  to  the  quick  and  made  the  life  of  our  own 
people  impossible  unless  they  were  corrected  and  the  world  made 
secure  once  for  all  against  their  recurrence. 

What  zve  demand  in  this  ivar,  therefore,  is  nothing  peculiar 
to  ourselves.  It  is  that  the  luorld  he  made  fit  and  safe  to  live  in: 
gnd  particularly  that  it  be  made  safe  for  every  peace-loving  nation 

97 


AMERICANISM 

which,  like  our  own,  wishes  to  live  its  own  life,  determine  its  own 
institutions,  be  assured  of  justice  and  fair  dealing  by  the  other 
peoples  of  the  ivorld  as  against  force  and  selfish  aggression. 

All  the  peoples  of  the  world  are  in  effect  partners  in  this 
interest,  and  for  our  own  part  we  see  very  clearly  that  unless 
justice  be  done  to  others  it  will  not  be  done  to  us.  The  program 
of  the  world's  peace,  therefore,  is  our  program;  and  that  program, 
the  only  possible  program,  as  we  see  it,  is  this: 

1.  Open  covenants  of  peace,  openly  arrived  at,  after  which 
there  shall  be  no  private  international  understandings  of  any  kind 
but  diplomacy  shall  proceed  always  frankly  and  in  the  public 
view. 

2.  Absolute  freedom  of  navigation  upon  the  seas,  outside  ter- 
ritorial waters,  alike  in  peace  and  in  war,  except  as  the  seas  may 
be  closed  in  whole  or  in  part  by  international  action  for  the  en- 
forcement of  international  covenants. 

3.  The  removal,  so  far  as  possible,  of  all  economic  barriers 
and  the  establishment  of  an  equality  of  trade  conditions  among 
all  the  nations  consenting  to  the  peace  and  associating  themselves 
for  its  maintenance. 

4.  Adequate  guarantees  given  and  taken  that  national  arma- 
ments will  be  reduced  to  the  lowest  points  consistent  with  domestic 
safety. 

5.  A  free,  open-minded,  and  absolutely  impartial  adjustment 
of  all  colonial  claims,  based  upon  a  strict  observance  of  the  prin- 
ciple that  in  determining  all  such  questions  of  sovereignty  the 
interests  of  the  populations  concerned  must  have  equal  weight  with 
the  equitable  claims  of  the  government  whose  title  is  to  be  deter- 
mined. 

6.  The  evacuation  of  all  Russian  territory  and  such  a  settle- 
ment of  all  questions  affecting  Russia  as  will  secure  the  best  and 
freest  cooperation  of  the  other  nations  of  the  world  in  obtaining 
for  her  an  unhampered  and  unembarrassed  opportunity  for  the 
independent  determination  of  her  own  political  development  and 
national  policy  and  assure  her  of  a  sincere  welcome  into  the 
society  of  free  nations  under  institutions  of  her  own  choosing; 
and,  more  than  a  welcome,  assistance  also  of  every  kind  that  she 
may  need  and  may  herself  desire.  The  treatment  accorded  Russia 
by  her  sister  nations  in  the  months  to  come  will  be  the  acid  test 
of  their  good  will,  of  their  comprehension  of  her  needs  as  distin- 
guished from  their  own  interests,  and  of  their  intelligent  and 
unselfish  sympathy. 

7.  Belgium,  the  whole  world  will  agree,  must  be  evacuated 
and  restored,  without  any  attempt  to  limit  the  sovereignty  which 
she  enjoys  in  common  with  all  other  free  nations.     No  other  single 

98 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

act  will  serve  as  this  will  serve  to  restore  confidence  among  the 
nations  in  the  laws  which  they  have  themselves  set  and  determined 
for  the  government  of  their  relations  with  one  another.  Without 
this  healing  act  the  whole  structure  and  validity  of  international 
law  is  forever  impaired. 

8.  All  French  territory  should  be  freed  and  the  invaded  por- 
tions restored,  and  the  wrong  done  to  France  by  Prussia  in  1871 
in  the  matter  of  Alsace-Lorraine,  which  has  unsettled  the  peace 
of  the  world  for  nearly  fifty  years,  should  be  righted,  in  order 
that  peace  may  once  more  be  made  secure  in  the  interest  of  all. 

9.  A  readjustment  of  the  frontiers  of  Italy  should  be  effected 
along  clearly  recognizable  lines  of  nationality. 

10.  The  peoples  of  Austria-Hungary,  whose  place  among  the 
nations  we  wish  to  see  safeguarded  and  assured,  should  be  ac- 
corded the  freest  opportunity  of  autonomous  development. 

11.  Rumania,  Serbia,  and  Montenegro  should  be  evacuated; 
occupied  territories  restored;  Serbia  accorded  free  and  secure 
access  to  the  sea;  and  the  relations  of  the  sever.il  Balkan  states 
to  one  another  determined  by  friendly  counsel  along  historically 
established  lines  of  allegiance  and  nationality;  and  international 
guarantees  of  the  political  and  economic  independence  and  terri- 
torial integrity  of  the  several  Balkan  states  should  be  entered 
into. 

12.  The  Turkish  portions  of  the  present  Ottoman  Empire 
should  be  assured  a  secure  sovereignty,  but  the  other  nationalities 
which  are  now  under  Turkish  rule  should  be  assured  an  undoubted 
security  of  life  and  an  absolutely  unmolested  opportunity  of  auton- 
omous development,  and  the  Dardanelles  should  be  permanently 
opened  as  a  free  passage  to  the  ships  and  commerce  of  all  nations 
under  international  guarantees. 

13.  An  independent  Polish  state  should  be  erected  which 
should  include  the  territories  inhabited  by  indisputably  Polish 
populations,  which  should  be  assured  a  free  and  secure  access  to 
the  sea,  and  whose  political  and  economic  independence  and  terri- 
torial integrity  should  be  guaranteed  by  international  covenant. 

14.  A  general  association  of  nations  must  be  formed  under 
specific  covenants  for  the  purpose  of  affording  mutual  guarantees 
of  political  independence  and  territorial  integrity  to  great  and 
small  states  alike. 

In  regard  to  these  essential  rectifications  of  wrong  and  asser- 
tions of  right  we  feel  ourselves  to  be  intimate  partners  of  all  the 
governments  and  peoples  associated  together  against  the  imperial- 
ists. We  cannot  be  separated  in  interest  or  divided  in  purpose. 
We  stand  together  until  the  end. 

99 


AMERICANISM 

For  such  arrangements  and  covenants  we  are  willing  to  fight 
and  to  continue  to  fight  until  they  are  achieved;  but  only  because 
we  wish  the  right  to  prevail  and  desire  a  just  and  stable  peace 
such  as  can  be  secured  only  by  removing  the  chief  provocations  to 
war,  which  this  program  does  remove. 

A  Program  Based  on  Principle. 

We  have  no  jealousy  of  German  greatness,  and  there  is  noth- 
ing in  this  program  that  impairs  it.  We  grudge  her  no  achieve- 
ment or  distinction  of  learning  or  of  pacific  enterprise  such  as 
have  made  her  record  very  bright  and  very  enviable.  We  do  not 
wish  to  injure  her  or  to  block  in  any  way  her  legitimate  influence 
or  power.  We  do  not  Avish  to  fight  her  either  with  arms  or  with 
hostile  arrangements  of  trade  if  she  is  willing  to  associate  herself 
with  us  and  the  other  peace-lo\ing  nations  of  the  world  in  cove- 
nants of  justice  and  law  and  fair  dealing. 

We  wish  her  only  to  accept  a  place  of  equality  among  the 
peoples  of  the  world, — the  new  world  in  which  we  now  live- 
instead  of  a  place  of  mastery. 

Neither  do  we  presume  to  suggest  to  her  any  alteration  or 
modification  of  her  institutions.  But  it  is  necessary,  we  must 
frankly  say,  and  necessary  as  a  preliminary  to  any  intelligent 
dealings  with  her  on  our  part,  that  we  should  know  whom  her 
spokesmen  speak  for  when  they  speak  to  us,  whether  for  the 
Reichstag  majority  or  for  the  military  party  and  the  men  whose 
creed  is  imperial  domination. 

We  have  spoken  now,  surely,  in  terms  too  concrete  to  admit 
of  any  further  doubt  or  question.  An  evident  principle  runs 
through  the  whole  program  I  have  outlined.  It  is  the  principle 
of  justice  to  all  peoples  and  nationalities,  and  their  right  to  live 
on  equal  terms  of  liberty  and  safety  with  one  another,  -whether 
they  be  strong  or  weak. 

Unless  this  principle  be  made  its  foundation  no  part  of  the 
structure  of  international  justice  can  stand.  The  people  of  the 
United  States  could  act  upon  no  other  principle;  and  to  the  vindi- 
cation of  this  principle  they  are  ready  to  devote  their  lives,  their 
honor,  and  everything  that  they  possess.  The  moral  climax  of  this 
the  culminating  and  final  war  for  human  liberty  has  come,  and 
they  are  ready  to  put  their  own  strength,  their  own  highest  pur- 
poses, their  own  integrity  and  devotion  to  the  test. 

COM.MENTS    ON    THE    PRESIDENT'S    PeACE    PlATFORM. 

Theodore  Roosevelt :  "A  reassertion  of  our  duty — to  stand 
with  the  Allies  to  the  end  and  fight  until  we  have  won  a  com- 
plete   victory." 

100 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

Maximilian  Harden:  "The  key  to  the  temple  of  world 
peace  is  in  the  hands  of  President  Wilson." 

Morris  Hillquit:  "A  full  and  true  expression  of  the  aspi- 
rations of  all  democratic  movements  of  this  war.  The  next  move 
is   up  to  Germany." 

Scott  Nearing  of  the  People's  Council:  "The  President  has 
put  into  perfect  English  the  splendid  economic  and  social  ideals 
of   the  New   Russia." 

New  York  Tribune:  "Mr.  Wilson's  address  to  Congress 
will  live  as  one  of  the  great  documents  in  American  history  and 
one  of  the  permanent  contributions  of  America  to  world  liberty. 
.  .  .  He  has  established  an  ideal  of  international  policy  through- 
out the  civilized  world.  Today,  as  never  before,  the  whole 
nation  marches  with  the  President,  certain  alike  of  the  leader  and 
the  cause.  In  a  very  deep  sense  Mr.  Wilson's  words  constitute  a 
second  Emancipation  Proclamation." 

New  York  World:  "The  most  definite  and  comprehensive 
statement  of  peace  terms  yet  made  by  any  responsible  head  of 
any  government." 

Neiv  York  Sun:  "The  President  ties  up  in  complete  soli- 
darity our  cause  and  that  of  the  European  Powers  which  are 
fighting  the  Teutons." 

New  York  Slants  Zeitung:  "He  speaks  without  restraint 
for   all  the  world.  ..." 

Chicago  Tribune:  "An  unescapable  challenge  to  the  Gov- 
ernments of  the  Central  Powers,  and,  what  is  perhaps  more 
important,    to   the   conscience   of    their   people." 

London  Daily  News:  "President  Wilson  states  the  issue 
with  unanswerable  truth.  ...  It  is  whether  the  world  is  to  be 
governed    by    the    German    General    Staff." 

A  London  Paper:     "The  Magna  Charta  of  future  peace." 

JANUARY  9,  1918 — Reports  Published  that  crowds  ix  Ger- 
man  CITIES  MARCH   DEMANDING   PEACE. 

(Doubtless  permitted  by  the  German  Bureau  of  Enemy 
Psychology  in  Berlin  as  a  part  of  the  peace  offensive.  Germans 
do  not,  as  a  rule,  march  unless  permitted  to;  and  no  news  leaves 
Germany    that   is   not   intended  for   outside    consumption.) 

JANUARY   14,   1918 — Russo-German    Armistice   Extended  to 
February  18. 

101 


AMERICANISM 

JANUARY  18,  1918 — Strikes  and  Riots  Reported  Through- 
out Austria-Hungary. 

JANUARY  19,  1918 — Russian  Constituent  Assembly  Broken 
Up  by  Bolsheviki,  who  had  failed  to  gain  control  of 
it  in  the  Election. 

JANUARY  24,    1918— Von   Hertling,  German  Chancellor, 
AND  Count  Czernin,  Austrian  Fokeign  Minister,  Reply 
TO  Lloyd  George  and  President  Wilson. 
{These  leaders,  answering  the  Brest-Litovsk  peace   offensive, 
had  reiterated  the  Allied  luar  aims  and  peace  terms.     Jon  Hertling 
denied  every  principle  of  them,  assuming  Germany's  most  aggres- 
sive and  insolent  attitude   toivard  ivorld  affairs.      Czernin,  seem- 
ing to  accept  President  IFilson's  platform  in  principle,  made  over- 
tures  for   a    direct    exchange    of   ideas    betiveen    Austria    and    the 
United  States.) 

JANUARY  26,  1918 — German  Socialists,  Indignant  Over 
German  Conduct  of  Brest-Litovsk  Negotiations  with 
the  Bolsheviki,  warn  the  German  Government. 

JANUARY  29,  1918— Germany  Known  to  be  Transferring 
Troops   from   Russian    Front  to  Western    Front,   Con- 
trary to  Terms  of  the  Truce  Agreement. 
{Another  "scrap  of  paper"  incident.     Germany's  intention,  of 
course,  in  the  successful  Russian  peace  offensive  nas  to  relieve  her- 
self from   pressure   on   the   east  in   order   to   free   these   troops   to 
bring  a  decision  in  the  If  est,  and  to  obtain  possession  of  the  Rus- 
sian  resources  by   deceit  zulirn    they  could  not  be  gained  by   arms. 
The  entire  device  was  detected  from  the  first  by  Allied  statesmen, 
most  of  the  Allied  people,  and  some  of  the  Allied  press.) 

FEBRUARY  4,  1918— Germany    Definitely    Concentrating 

for  Huge  Spring  Offensive  in  the  West. 

{The  Higli  Command  promised ,  and  possibly  hoped,  tlint  this 
would  be  the  final  drive  of  the  ivar.) 

FEBRUARY  7,  1918— Bolsheviki  Refuse  German  Demands 
FOR  Immediate  Peace. 

FEBRUARY  9,  1918— The    Ukraine    Signs    a    Peach    with 

Germany. 

{A  Teuton  intrigue,  tvhich  deceivea  the  people  of  the  Ukraine 
at  the  time.  Germany  subsequently  found  the  Ukraine  hot 
handling.) 

102 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

FEBRUARY   10,    1918— Russians   break  off  peace   negotia- 
tions AT  Brest-Litovsk. 

(Germany's  terms  were  intolerable.  Every  concession  led 
to   heavier  demands.) 

FEBRUARY  11,  1918— Bolsheviki  Declare  War  at  an  End, 
AND  Disband  Army. 

( This  proved  a  conclusive  experiment  in  non-resistance;  its 
consequences  convinced  even  some  pacifists  that  war  may  be  expe- 
dient.) 

FEBRUARY    11,    1918— President    Wilson    addresses    Con- 
gress,   ANSWERING    FURTHER    GeRMAN    PEACE    OFFENSIVES. 

{The  simultaneous  utterances  of  the  two  great  Anglo-Saxon 
leaders^  Lloyd  George  and  Woodrow  Wilson,  a  month  before, 
had  stirred  up  a  Teutonic  turmoil.  Germany  and  Austria  re- 
plied simultaneously  within  two  weeks;  von  Hertling  for  Ger- 
many with  evasion  and  subterfuge;  Count  Czernin,  for  Austria, 
in  a  tone  apparently  so  conciliatory  that  some  hope  was  enter- 
tained that  this  exchange  of  views  might  lead  to  something,  until 
it  became  apparent  that  Count  Czernin  was  merely  playing  a 
deep  part  in  the  Teutonic  game,  in  which  nothing  can  be  trusted. 
President  Wilson,  seizing  upon  the  hope,  endeavored  to  drive 
in  a  wedge  between  Germany  and  her  ally,  in  the  following 
address,  delivered  before   Congress.) 

"ONLY  ONE  PEACE  POSSIBLE." 

President  Wilson's   Address  to  Congress,  Analyzing  Ger- 
man AND  Austrian   Peace  Utterances. 
{Complete) 
Gentlemen  of   the   Congress: 

On  the  eighth  of  January  I  had  the  honor  of  addressing 
you  on  the  objects  of  the  war  as  our  people  conceive  them.  The 
Prime  IVIinister  of  Great  Britain  had  spoken  in  similar  terms 
on  the  fifth  of  January.  To  these  addresses  the  German  Chan- 
cellor replied  on  the  twenty-fourth  and  Count  Czernin,  for 
Austria,  on  the  same  day.  It  is  gratifying  to  have  our  desire 
so  promptly  realized  that  all  exchanges  of  view  on  this  great 
matter  should  be  made  in  the  hearing  of  all  the  world. 

Count  Czernin's  reply,  which  is  directed  chiefly  to  my  own 
address  of  the  eighth  of  January,  is  uttered  in  a  very  friendly 
tone.      He   finds   in    my   statement    a   sufficiently   encouraging   ap- 

103 


AMERICANISM 

proach  to  the  views  of  his  own  Government  to  justify  him  in 
believing  that  it  furnishes  a  basis  for  a  more  detailed  discussion 
of  purposes  by  the  two  Governments.  He  is  represented  to 
have  intimated  that  the  views  he  was  expressing  had  been  com- 
municated to  me  beforehand  and  that  I  was  aware  of  them  at 
the  time  he  was  uttering  them;  but  in  this  I  am  sure  he  was 
misunderstood.  I  had  received  no  intimation  of  what  he  in- 
tended to  say.  There  was,  of  course,  no  reason  why  he  should 
communicate  privately  with  me.  I  am  quite  content  to  be  one 
of    his   public    audience. 

Germany  Still  Withstands  Just  Principles. 

Count  von  Hertling's  reply  is,  I  must  say,  very  vague  and 
very  confusing.  It  is  full  of  equivocal  phrases  and  leads  it  is 
not  clear  where.  But  it  is  certainly  in  a  very  different  tone 
from  that  of  Count  Czernin,  and  apparently  of  an  opposite 
purpose.  It  confirms,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  rather  than  removes, 
the  unfortunate  impression  made  by  what  we  had  learned  of 
the  conferences  at  Brest-Litovsk.  His  discussion  and  acceptance 
of  our  general  principles  lead  him  to  no  practical  conclusions. 
He  refuses  to  apply  them  to  the  substantive  items  which  must 
constitute  the  body  of  any  final  settlement.  He  is  jealous  of 
international  action  and  of  international  counsel.  He  accepts, 
he  says,  the  principle  of  public  diplomacy,  but  he  appears  to 
insist  that  it  be  confined,  at  any  rate  in  this  case,  to  generalities 
and  that  the  several  particular  questions  upon  whose  settlement 
must  depend  the  acceptance  of  peace  by  the  twenty-three  states 
now  engaged  in  the  war,  must  be  discussed  and  settled,  not  in 
general  council,  but  severally  by  the  nations  most  immediately 
concerned  by  interest  or  neighborhood.  He  agrees  that  the  seas 
should  be  free,  but  looks  askance  at  any  limitation  to  that  free- 
dom by  international  action  in  the  interest  of  the  common  order. 
He  would  without  reserve  be  glad  to  see  economic  barriers  re- 
moved between  nation  and  nation,  for  that  could  in  no  way 
impede  the  ambitions  of  the  military  party  with  whom  he  seems 
constrained  to  keep  on  terms.  Neither  does  he  raise  objection 
to  a  limitation  of  armaments.  That  matter  will  be  settled  of 
Itself,  he  thinks,  by  the  economic  conditions  which  must  follow 
the  war.  But  the  German  colonies,  he  demands,  must  be  re- 
turned without  debate.  He  will  discuss  with  no  one  but  the 
representatives  of  Russia  what  disposition  shall  be  made  of 
the  people  and  the  lands  of  the  Baltic  provinces;  with  no  one 
but  the  Government  of  France  the  "conditions"  under  which 
French  territory  shall  be  evacuated;  and  only  with  Austria  what 

104 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

shall  be  done  with  Poland.  In  the  determination  of  all  ques- 
tions affecting  the  Balkan  states  he  defers,  as  I  understand  him, 
to  Austria  and  Turkey;  and  with  regard  to  the  agreements  to 
be  entered  into  concerning  the  non-Turkish  peoples  of  the  present 
Ottoman  Empire,  to  the  Turkish  authorities  themselves.  After 
a  settlement  all  around,  effected  in  this  fashion,  bj'  individual 
barter  and  concession,  he  would  have  no  objection,  if  I  correctly 
interpret  his  statement,  to  a  league  of  nations  which  would  under- 
take to  hold  the  new  balance  of  power  steady  against  external 
disturbance. 

No  Peace  of  Shreds  and  Patches. 

It  must  be  evident  to  everyone  who  understands  what  this 
war  lias  wrought  in  the  opinion  and  temper  of  the  world  that 
no  general  peace,  no  peace  worth  the  infinite  sacrifices  of  these 
years  of  tragical  suffering,  can  possibly  be  arrived  at  in  any  such 
fashion.  The  method  the  German  Chancellor  proposes  is  the 
method  of  the  Congress  of  Vienna.  We  cannot  and  will  not 
return  to  that.  JVhat  is  at  stake  now  is  the  peace  of  the  world. 
IVhat  we  are  striving  for  is  a  new  international  order  based 
upon  broad  and  universal  principles  of  right  and  justice, — no 
mere  peace  of  shreds  and  patches.  Is  it  possible  that  Count  von 
Hertling  does  not  see  that,  does  not  grasp  it,  is  in  fact  living 
in  his  thought  in  a  world  dead  and  gone?  Has  he  utterly  for- 
gotten the  Reichstag  Resolutions  of  the  nineteenth  of  July,  or 
does  he  deliberately  ignore  themf  They  spoke  of  the  conditions 
of  a  general  peace,  not  of  national  aggrandizement  or  of  arrange- 
ments betiveen  state  and  state.  The  peace  of  the  ivorld  depends 
upon  the  just  settlement  of  each  of  the  several  problems  to  which 
I  adverted  in  my  recent  address  to  the  Congress.  I,  of  course, 
do  not  mean  that  the  peace  of  the  world  depends  upon  the  accept- 
ance of  any  particular  set  of  suggestions  as  to  the  way  in  which 
those  problems  are  to  be  dealt  with.  I  ?nean  only  that  those 
problems  each  and  all  affect  the  whole  world;  that  unless  they 
are  dealt  with  in  a  spirit  of  unselfish  and  unbiased  justice,  ivitli 
a  vieiu  to  the  wishes,  the  natural  connections,  the  racial  aspira- 
tions, the  security,  and  the  peace  of  mind  of  the  peoples  involved, 
no  permanent  peace  luill  have  been  attained.  They  cannot  be 
discussed  separately  or  in  corners.  None  of  them  constitutes  a 
private  or  separate  interest  from  which  the  opinion  of  the  world 
may  be  shut  out.  Whatever  affects  the  peace  affects  mankind, 
and  nothing  settled  by  military  force,  if  settled  ivrong,  is  settled 
at  all.     It  will  presently  have  to  be  reopened. 

105 


AMERICANISM 

Nations   Sit    In   Judgment. 

Is  Count  von  Hertling  not  aware  that  he  is  speaking  in  the 
court  of  mankind,  that  all  the  awakened  nations  of  the  world 
now  sit  in  judgment  on  what  every  public  man,  of  whatever 
nation,  maj'  say  on  the  issues  of  a  conflict  which  has  spread  to 
every  region  of  the  world?  The  Reichstag  Resolutions  of  July 
themselves  frankly  accepted  the  decisions  of  that  court.  There 
shall  be  no  annexations,  no  contributions,  no  punitive  damages. 
Peoples  are  not  to  be  handed  about  from  one  sovereignty  to 
another  by  an  international  conference  or  an  understanding  be- 
tween rivals  and  antagonists.  National  aspirations  must  be  re- 
spected; peoples  may  now  be  dominated  and  governed  only  by 
their  own  consent.  "Self-determination"  is  not  a  mere  phrase. 
It  is  an  imperative  principle  of  action,  which  statesmen  will  hence- 
forth ignore  at  their  peril.  We  cannot  have  general  peace  for 
the  asking,  or  by  the  mere  arrangements  of  a  peace  conference. 
It  cannot  be  pieced  together  out  of  individual  understandings 
between  powerful  states.  All  the  parties  to  this  war  must  join 
in  the  settlement  of  every  issue  anywhere  involved  in  it;  because 
what  we  are  seeking  is  a  peace  that  we  can  all  unite  to  guar- 
antee and  maintain  and  every  item  of  it  must  be  submitted  to 
the  common  judgment  whether  it  be  right  and  fair,  an  act  of 
justice    rather   than    a   bargain   between   sovereigns. 

The  United  States  has  no  desire  to  interfere  in  European 
affairs  or  to  act  as  arbiter  in  European  territorial  disputes.  She 
would  disdain  to  take  advantage  of  any  internal  weakness  or 
disorder  to  impose  her  own  will  upon  another  people.  She  is 
quite  ready  to  be  shown  that  the  settlements  she  has  suggested  are 
not  the  best  or  the  most  enduring.  They  are  only  her  own  pro- 
visional sketch  of  principles  and  of  the  way  in  which  they  should 
be  applied.  But  she  entered  this  luar  because  she  was  made  a 
partner  whether  she  would  or  not,  in  the  sufferings  and  indig- 
nities inflicted  by  the  military  masters  of  Germany,  against  the 
peace  and  security  of  mankind;  and  the  conditions  of  peace  will 
touch  her  as  nearly  as  they  will  touch  any  other  nation  to  which 
is  entrusted  a  leading  part  in  the  maintenance  of  civilization. 
She  cannot  see  her  ivay  to  peace  until  the  causes  of  this  war 
are  removed,  its  renewal  rendered  as  nearly  as  may  be  impossible. 

Pull  Up  the  Roots  of  War. 

This  war  had  its  roots  in  the  disregard  of  the  rights  of 
small  nations  and  of  nationalities  which  lacked  the  union  and 
the  force  to  make  good  their  claim  to  determine  their  own  alle- 
giances   and    their   own   forms   of   political   life.     Covenants   must 

106 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

now  be  entered  into  which  will  render  such  things  impossible 
for  the  future;  and  those  covenants  must  be  backed  by  the  united 
force  of  all  nations  that  love  justice  and  are  willing  to  main- 
tain it  at  any  cost.  If  territorial  settlements  and  the  political 
relations  of  great  populations  which  have  not  the  organized 
power  to  resist  are  to  be  determined  by  the  contracts  of  the 
powerful  governments  which  consider  themselves  most  directly 
affected,  as  Count  von  Hertling  proposes,  why  may  not  economic 
questions  also?  It  has  come  about  in  the  altered  world  in  which 
we  now  find  ourselves  that  justice  and  the  rights  of  peoples  affect 
the  whole  field  of  international  dealing  as  much  as  access  to  raw 
materials  and  fair  and  equal  conditions  of  trade.  Count  von 
Hertling  wants  the  essential  bases  of  commercial  and  industrial 
life  to  be  safeguarded  by  common  agreement  and  guarantee, 
but  he  cannot  expect  that  to  be  conceded  him  if  the  other  matters 
to  be  determined  by  the  articles  on  peace  are  not  handled  in 
the  same  way  as  items  in  the  final  accounting.  He  cannot  ask 
the  benefit  of  common  agreement  in  the  one  field  without  accord- 
ing it  in  the  other.  I  take  it  for  granted  that  he  sees  that  sepa- 
rate and  selfish  compacts  with  regard  to  trade  and  the  essential 
materials  of  manufacture  would  afford  no  foundation  for  peace. 
Neither,  he  may  rest  assured,  will  separate  and  selfish  contracts 
with  regard  to   provinces   and  peoples. 

Count  Czernin  Seems  To  See. 

Count  Czernin  seems  to  see  the  fundamental  elements  of 
peace  with  clear  eyes  and  does  not  seek  to  obscure  them.  He 
sees  that  an  independent  Poland,  made  up  of  all  the  indisputably 
Polish  peoples  who  lie  contiguous  to  one  another,  is  a  matter 
of  European  concern  and  must  of  course  be  conceded;  that  Bel- 
gium must  be  evacuated  and  restored,  no  matter  what  sacrifices 
and  concessions  that  may  involve;  and  that  national  aspirations 
must  be  satisfied,  even  within  his  own  Empire,  in  the  common 
interest  of  Europe  and  mankind.  If  he  is  silent  about  questions 
which  touch  the  interest  and  purpose  of  his  allies  more  nearly 
than  they  touch  those  of  Austria  only,  it  must  of  course  be  be- 
cause he  feels  constrained,  I  suppose,  to  defer  to  Germany  and 
Turkey  in  the  circumstances.  Seeing  and  conceding,  as  he  does, 
the  essential  principles  involved  and  the  necessity  of  candidly 
applying  them,  he  naturally  feels  that  Austria  can  respond  to 
the  purpose  of  peace  as  expressed  by  the  United  States  with  less 
embarrassment  than  could  Germany.  He  would  probably  have 
gone  much  farther  had  it  not  been  for  the  embarrassments  of 
Austria's    alliances    and    of   her    dependence    upon    Germany. 

107 


AMERICANISM 

After  all,  the  test  of  whether  it  is  possible  for  either  gov- 
ernment to  go  any  further  in  this  comparison  of  views  is  simple 
and   obvious.     The   principles   to   be   applied    are   these: 

First,  that  each  part  of  the  final  settlement  must  be  based 
upon  the  essential  justice  of  that  particular  case  and  upon  such 
adjustments  as  are  most  likely  to  bring  a  peace  that  will  be 
permanent; 

Second,  that  peoples  and  provinces  are  not  to  be  bartered 
about  from  sovereignty  to  sovereignty  as  if  they  were  mere  chat- 
tels and  pawns  in  a  game,  even  the  great  game,  now  forever 
discredited,    of   the    balance    of   power;    but    that 

Third,  every  territorial  settlement  involved  in  this  war  must 
be  made  in  the  interest  and  for  the  benefit  of  the  populations 
concerned,  and  not  as  a  part  of  any  mere  adjustment  or  com- 
promise of  claims   amongst   rival   states;   and 

Fourth,  that  all  well  defined  national  aspirations  shall  be 
accorded  the  utmost  satisfaction  that  can  be  accorded  them 
without  introducing  new  or  perpetuating  old  elements  of  dis- 
cord and  antagonism  that  would  be  likely  in  time  to  break  thc 
peace  of   Europe   and  consequently  of   the   world. 

A  general  peace  erected  upon  such  foundations  can  be  dis- 
cussed. Until  such  a  peace  can  be  secured  we  have  no  choice 
but  to  go  on.  So  far  as  we  can  judge,  these  principles  that  we 
regard  as  fundamental  are  already  everywhere  accepted  as  im- 
perative except  among  the  spokesmen  of  the  military  and  annex- 
ationist party  in  Germany.  If  they  have  anywhere  else  been 
rejected,  the  objectors  have  not  been  sufficiently  numerous  or 
influential  to  make  their  voices  audible.  The  tragical  circum- 
stance is  that  this  one  party  in  Germany  is  apparently  willing 
and  able  to  send  millions  of  men  to  their  death  to  pre\ent  what 
all  the  world  now  sees  to  be  just. 

We  Canxot  Turn*  Back. 

I  would  not  be  a  true  spokesman  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States  if  I  did  not  say  once  more  that  we  entered  this  war  upon 
no  small  occasion,  and  that  we  can  never  turn  back  from  a  course 
chosen  upon  principle.  Our  resources  are  in  part  mobilized  ncv. 
and  we  shall  not  pause  until  they  are  mobilized  in  their  entirety. 
Our  armies  are  rapidly  going  to  the  fighting  front,  and  will  go 
more  and  m.ore  rapidly.  Our  whole  strength  \\ill  be  put  into 
this  war  of  emancipation, — emancipation  from  the  threat  and 
attempted  mastery  of  selfish  groups  of  autocratic  rulers, — what- 
ever the  difficulties  and  present  partial  delays.  He  arc  indom- 
itable in   our  poner  of  independent  action   and  can   in   no   circiim- 

lOS 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

stance  consent  to  live  in  a  world  governed  by  intrigue  and  force. 
We  believe  that  our  own  desire  for  a  new  international  order 
under  which  reason  and  justice  and  the  common  interests  of 
mankind  shall  prevail  is  the  desire  of  enlightened  men  every- 
where. Without  that  new  order  the  world  will  be  without 
peace  and  human  life  will  lack  tolerable  conditions  of  existence 
and  development.  Having  set  our  hand  to  the  task  of  achieving 
it,   we  shall  not  turn  back. 

I  hope  that  it  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  add  that  no  word 
of  what  I  have  said  is  intended  as  a  threat.  That  is  not  the 
temper  of  our  people.  I  have  spoken  thus  only  that  the  whole 
world  may  know  the  true  spirit  of  America — that  men  every- 
where may  know  that  our  passion  for  justice  and  for  self-gov- 
ernment is  no  mere  passion  of  words  but  a  passion  which,  once 
set  in  action,  must  be  satisfied.  The  power  of  the  United  States 
is  a  menace  to  no  nation  or  people.  It  will  never  be  used  in 
aggression  or  for  the  aggrandizement  of  any  selfish  interest  of 
our  own.  It  springs  out  of  freedom  and  is  for  the  service  of 
freedom. 

FEBRUARY   18,    1918— Germany   Resumes  War  on   Russia. 

{Perhaps  one  of  the  most  colossal  of  Germany's  tnany  stupid 
blunders.  Nothing  she  had  done  so  firmly  consolidated  against 
her  the  thought  of  the  free  world.  This  action  over  a  fallen  foe, 
ivhich  she  had  herself  previously  seduced  into  a  state  of  physical, 
mental  and  spiritual  helplessness,  startled  from  their  dreams  many 
who  had  still  built  castles  of  peace  out  of  the  fatuous  faith  that 
there  was  some  moral  foundation  in  Germany  upon  which  to 
build.) 

FEBRUARY  19,  1918— Bolsheviki  Accept  German  Terms,  but 
Drive  Continues. 

{Here  brute  force  and  treachery  threw  off  the  mask.  Even 
Cerinans  squinned  at  this;  while  Austria  ivas  understood  to  have 
refused  to  take  part  in  the  game,  as  a  mark  of  her  disapproval.) 

FEBRUARY    19,    1918 — Lloyd   George   defends   Allied    uni- 
fied control. 

{This  ?narked  the  final  triumph  in  England  of  the  policy 
of  unified  control  and  direction,  consistently  supported  by  the 
United  States  from  the  first.  Lloyd  George  referred  to  Ameri- 
can arguments  as  having  "irresistible  power  and  logic") 

109 


AMERICANISM 

FEBRUARY  24,   1918 — Bolsheviki  Government  accepts  for 
Russia  Further  German  Peace  Terms. 

{These  terms,  imposed  by  bullying  force,  ivere  much  worse 
than  the  first  ones,  surrendering  to  Germany — under  a  German 
"self-determination"  pretext  that  the  inhabitants  desired  the 
change — one-fourth    of  European   Russia.) 

FEBRUARY   25.    1918— Von    Hertling,   for   Germany,   con- 
tinues peace  offensive. 

(Chancellor  Von  Hertling,  xvhile  Germany  was  overrunninfi 
Russia,  overcome  uith  a  "scrap  of  paper,"  informed  the  world  in  a 
speech  that  he  could  "fundamentally  agree"  with  President  JVd- 
Son's  peace  terms,  as  expressed  in  the  speech  of  February  II.) 

MARCH     11,     1918 — President    Wilson    sends    message    to 
Russian  Soviets. 

(He  expressed  sympathy  and  declared  it  to  be  America's  in- 
tention to  help  Russia  maintain  her  existence  and  freedom.) 

MARCH  11,  1918 — American  Troops  go  "Over  the  Top"  for 
the   First  Time. 

MARCH    13,    1918 — Germany   Forcible    Occupies  Odessa. 

{She  ratified  her  treaty  of  peace  ivith  the  Ukraine  by  occu- 
pying the  capital  with  troops  and  beginning  to  strip  the  country 
of  supplies.  Peasants  hid,  buried  and  destroyed  grain  to  prevent 
the  Germans  from  getting  it.) 

MARCH    18,    1918 — Allied    nations    denounce    Germany's 
political    assassination    of    Russia    and    repudiate    the 

PEACE    treaties. 

MARCH  21,  1918 — Greatest  offensive  of  the  war  launched 
by  Germans. 

{IFith  armies  swollen  by  troops  drawn  from  the  Russian 
front,  the  German  High  Command,  after  months  of  preparation, 
special  training  of  "shock  troops"  and  diligent  publicity  in  the 
neutral  and  enemy  press,  launched  the  greatest  offensive  of  the  war 
against  the  British  army,  ivith  the  general  purpose  of  forcing  a 
favorable  peace  by  a  decision  at  arms  before  the  arrival  of  help 
from  America.  The  objectives  luere  cither  the  channel  ports  or 
Paris,   as   the   battle    might   develop.      The    Germans   succeeded  in 

110 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

driving  a  deep,  broad  salient  into  the  British  lines,  being  stopped 
only  short  of  Amiens.  The  threat  for  an  anxious  week  was  critical, 
but  the  Germans  were  finally  held.  This  supreme  effort  was 
enormously  costly  in  men  to  the  Germans,  and  gained  no  vital  ob- 
jectives. American  troops  were  brigaded  with  English  and  French, 
General  Pershing  offering  all  the  soldiers  he  had  to  the  Allied 
Command.) 

MARCH  28,  1918 — General  Pershing  offers  France  all 
THE  American  soldiers  on  hand. 

MARCH  29,  1918 — General  Foch  made  generalissimo,  in 
supreme  command  of  all  Allied  armies. 

APRIL  4,  1918 — Germans  Renew  Supreme  Offensive. 

( This  time  they  struck  at  the  junction  of  the  French  and 
British  armies  at  Amiens,  gaining  ground,  but  fading  to  break 
through  as  they  had  purposed.) 

APRIL  6,  1918 — First  anniversary  of  America's  entrance 
into  the  war;  President  Wilson  delivers  an  address 
at  Baltimore. 

{Both  Germany,  through  von  Hertling,  and  Austria,  through 
Czernin,  made  welcoming  gestures  with  one  hand  toward  the  prin- 
ciples laid  down  in  President  Wilson's  speech  of  February  nth, 
ivhile  with  the  other  they  were  signing  a  treacherous  peace  with 
Russia  which  wrested  from  her  vast  areas  under  hypocritical  pre- 
texts, subjected  millions  of  people  to  the  German  world-will,  and 
cynically  ignored  every  principle  for  luhich  President  IVilson  so 
clearly  showed  the  Allies  were  sacrificing  all.  Whereupon  Presi- 
dent Wilson  in  an  address  in  Baltimore  launched  at  the  Prussian 
Autocracy  possibly  the  most  penetrating  and  crushing  arraignment 
any  nation  has  ever  suffered  since  the  days  of  the  prophets.  The 
peroration  of  this  address,  in  which  President  IVilson,  in  the  name 
of  the  United  States,  accepts  the  German  challenge  of  force, 
seen  in  the  Brest-Litovsk  treaty,  will  doubtless  be  pronounced 
one  of  the  great  passages  of  English  speech.) 

"FORCE  TO  THE  UTMOST!" 

President   Wilson    accepts    Germany's    Challenge. 
{Complete) 
Fellow    Citizens: 

This  is  the  anniversary  of  our  acceptance  of  Germany's  chal- 
lenge to  fight  for  our  right  to  live  and  be  free,  and  for  the  sacred 

111 


AMERICANISM 

rights  of  free  men  everywhere.  The  Nation  is  awake.  There 
is  no  need  to  call  to  it.  Ite  know  what  the  war  must  cost,  our 
utmost  sacrifice,  the  lives  of  our  fittest  men  and,  if  need  be,  all 
that  we  possess.  The  loan  we  are  met  to  discuss  is  one  of  the 
least  parts  of  what  we  are  called  upon  to  give  and  to  do,  though 
in  itself  imperative.  The  people  of  the  whole  country  are  alive 
to  the  necessity  of  it,  and  are  ready  to  lend  to  the  utmost,  even 
where  it  involves  a  sharp  skimping  and  daily  sacrifice  to  lend 
out  of  meagre  earnings.  They  will  look  with  reprobation  and 
contempt  upon  those  who  can  and  will  not,  upon  those  who  de- 
mand a  higher  rate  of  interest,  upon  those  who  think  of  it  as 
a  mere  commercial  transaction.  I  have  not  come,  therefore,  to 
urge  the  loan.  I  have  come  only  to  give  you,  if  I  can,  a  more 
vivid  conception  of  what  it  is  for. 

The  reasons  for  this  great  war,  the  reason  why  it  had  to 
come,  the  need  to  fight  it  through,  and  the  issues  that  hang  upon 
its  outcome,  are  more  clearly  disclosed  now  than  ever  before. 
It  is  easy  to  see  just  what  this  particular  loan  means  because 
the  Cause  we  are  fighting  for  stands  more  sharply  revealed  than 
at  any  previous  crisis  of  the  momentous  struggle.  The  man  who 
knows  least  can  now  see  plainly  how  the  cause  of  Justice  stands 
and  what  the  imperishable  thing  is  he  is  asked  to  invest  in.  Men 
in  America  may  be  more  sure  than  they  ever  were  before  that 
the  cause  is  their  own,  and  that,  if  it  should  be  lost,  their  own 
great  Nation's  place  and  mission  in  the  world  would  be  lost 
with  it. 

Our  Hands  Are  Clean. 

I  call  you  to  witness,  my  fellow  countrymen,  that  at  no 
stage  of  this  terrible  business  have  I  judged  the  purposes  of  Ger- 
many intemperately.  I  should  be  ashamed  in  the  presence  of  af- 
fairs so  grave,  so  fraught  with  the  destinies  of  mankind  through- 
out all  the  world,  to  speak  with  truculence,  to  use  the  weak  lan- 
guage of  hatred  or  vindictive  purpose.  We  must  judge  as  we 
would  be  judged.  I  have  sought  to  learn  the  objects  Germany 
has  in  this  war  from  the  mouths  of  her  own  spokesmen,  and  to 
deal  as  frankly  with  them  as  I  wished  them  to  deal  with  me.  I 
have  laid  bare  our  own  ideals,  our  own  purposes,  without  re- 
serve or  doubtful  phrase,  and  have  asked  them  to  say  as  plainly 
what  it  is  that  they  seek. 

We  have  ourseh'es  proposed  no  injustice,  no  aggression.  We 
are  ready,  whenever  the  final  reckoning  is  made,  to  be  just  to 
the  German  people,  deal  fairly  with  the  German  power,  as  with 
all  others.  There  can  be  no  difference  between  peoples  in  the 
final   judgment,   if  it   is   indeed   to  be   a    righteous  judgment.     To 

112 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

propose  anything  but  justice,  evenhanded  and  dispassionate  jus- 
tice, to  Germany  at  any  time,  whatever  the  outcome  of  the  war, 
would  be  to  renounce  and  dishonour  our  own  cause.  For  we 
ask  nothing  that  we  are  not  willing  to  accord. 

It  has  been  with  this  thought  that  I  have  sought  to  learn 
from  those  who  spoke  for  Germany  whether  it  was  justice  or 
dominion  and  the  execution  of  their  own  will  upon  the  other 
nations  of  the  world  that  the  German  leaders  were  seeking.  They 
have  answered,  answered  in  unmistakable  terms.  They  have 
avowed  that  it  was  not  justice  but  dominion  and  the  unhindered 
execution  of  their  own  will. 

Now  Germany's  Purposes  Stand  Naked. 

The  avowal  has  not  come  from  Germany's  statesmen.  It 
has  come  from  her  military  leaders,  who  are  her  real  rulers. 
Her  statesmen  have  said  that  they  wished  peace,  and  were  ready 
to  discuss  its  terms  whenever  their  opponents  were  willing  to  sit 
down  at  the  conference  table  with  them.  Her  present  Chancellor 
has  said — in  indefinite  and  uncertain  terms,  indeed,  and  in  phrases 
that  often  seem  to  deny  their  own  meaning,  but  with  as  much 
plainness  as  he  thought  prudent — that  he  believed  that  peace 
should  be  based  upon  the  principles  which  we  had  declared  would 
be  our  own  in  the  final  settlement.  At  Brest-Litovsk  her  civil- 
ian delegates  spoke  in  similar  terms;  professed  their  desire  to 
conclude  a  fair  peace  and  accord  to  the  peoples  with  whose 
fortunes  they  were  dealing  the  right  to  choose  their  own  alle- 
giances. But  action  accompanied  and  followed  the  profession. 
Their  military  masters,  the  men  who  act  for  Germany  and  exhibit 
her  purpose  in  execution,  proclaimed  a  very  different  conclusion. 
We  can  not  mistake  what  they  have  done — In  Russia,  in  Finland, 
in  the  Ukraine,  in  Roumania.  The  real  test  of  their  justice  and 
fair  play  has  come.  From  this  we  may  judge  the  rest.  They  are 
enjoying  in  Russia  a  cheap  triumph  in  which  no  brave  or  gallant 
nation  can  long  take  pride.  A  great  people,  helpless  by  their 
own  act,  lies  for  the  time  at  their  mercy.  Their  fair  professions 
are  forgotten.  They  nowhere  set  up  justice,  but  everywhere 
impose  their  power  and  exploit  everything  for  their  own  use 
and  aggrandizement;  and  the  peoples  of  conquered  provinces  are 
invited  to  be  free  under  their  dominion! 

Beware  of  Them! 

Are  we  not  justified  in  believing  that  they  would  do  the 
same  things  at  their  western  front  if  they  were  not  there  face 
to  face  with  armies  whom  even  their  countless  divisions  can  not 

113 


AMERICANISM 

overcome?  If,  when  they  have  felt  their  check  to  be  final,  they 
should  propose  favorable  and  equitable  terms  with  regard  to 
Belgium  and  France  and  Italy,  could  they  blame  us  if  we  con- 
cluded that  they  did  so  only  to  assure  themselves  of  a  free  hand 
in    Russia   and   the   East? 

Their  purpose  is  undoubtedly  to  make  all  the  Slavic  peoples, 
all  the  free  and  ambitious  nations  of  the  Baltic  peninsula,  all 
the  lands  that  Turkey  has  dominated  and  misruled,  subject  to 
their  will  and  ambition  and  build  upon  that  dominion  an  empire 
of  force  upon  which  they  fancy  that  they  can  then  erect  an 
empire  of  gain  and  commercial  supremacy — an  empire  as  hostile 
to  the  Americas  as  to  the  Europe  which  it  will  overawe — an 
empire  which  will  ultimately  master  Persia,  India,  and  the 
peoples  of  the  Far  East.  In  such  a  program  our  ideals,  the 
ideals  of  justice  and  humanity  and  liberty,  the  principle  of  the 
free  self-determination  of  nations  upon  which  all  the  modern 
world  insists,  can  play  no  part.  They  are  rejected  for  the  ideals 
of  power,  for  the  principle  that  the  strong  must  rule  the  weak, 
that  trade  must  follow  the  flag,  whether  those  to  whom  it  is 
taken  welcome  it  or  not,  that  the  peoples  of  the  world  are  to 
be  made  subject  to  the  patronage  and  overlordship  of  those  who 
have  the  power  to  enforce  it. 

That  program  once  carried  out,  America  and  all  who  care 
or  dare  to  stand  with  her  must  arm  and  prepare  themselves  to 
contest  the  mastery  of  the  World,  a  mastery  in  which  the  rights 
of  common  men,  the  rights  of  women  and  of  all  who  are  weak, 
must  for  the  time  being  be  trodden  under  foot  and  disregarded, 
and  the  old,  age-long  struggle  for  freedom  and  right  begin  again 
at  its  beginning.  Everything  that  America  has  lived  for  and 
loved  and  grown  great  to  vindicate  and  bring  to  a  glorious  realiza- 
tion will  have  fallen  in  utter  ruin  and  the  gates  of  mercy  once 
more  pitilessly  shut  upon  mankind! 

The  thing  is  preposterous  and  impossible;  and  yet  is  not 
that  what  the  whole  course  and  action  of  the  German  armies 
has  meant  wherever  they  have  moved?  I  do  not  wish,  even  in 
this  moment  of  utter  disillusionment,  to  judge  harshly  or  unright- 
eously. I  judge  only  what  the  German  arms  have  accomplished 
with  unpitying  thoroughness  throughout  every  fair  region  they 
have  touched. 

There  is  One  Thing  to  Do. 

What,  then,  are  we  to  do?  For  myself,  I  am  ready,  ready 
still,  ready  even  now,  to  discuss  a  fair  and  just  and  honest  peace 
at  any  time  that  it  is  sincerely  purposed— a  peace  in  which  the 
strong    and   the   weak   shall    fare    alike.      But    the    answer,    when 

114 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

I    proposed   such   a  peace,   came   from   the   German   commanders 
in  Russia,  and  I  cannot  mistake  the  meaning  of  the  answer. 

/  accept  the  challenge.  I  know  that  you  accept  it.  All  the 
world  shall  know  that  you  accept  it.  It  shall  appear  in  the  utter 
sacrifice  and  self-forgetfulness  with  which  we  shall  give  all  that 
we  love  and  all  that  we  have  to  redeem  the  world  and  make  it 
fit  for  free  men  like  ourselves  to  live  in.  This  now  is  the  mean- 
ing of  all  that  we  do.  Let  everything  that  ive  say,  my  felloiv 
countrymen,  everything  that  we  henceforth  plan  and  accomplish, 
ring  true  to  this  response  till  the  majesty  and  7night  of  our  con- 
certed power  shall  fill  tlie  thought  and  utterly  defeat  the  force 
of  those  who  flout  and  misprize  what  we  honour  and  hold  dear. 
Germany  has  once  more  said  that  force,  and  force  alone,  shall 
decide  whether  Justice  and  peace  shall  reign  in  the  affairs  of 
men,  whether  Right  as  America  conceives  it  or  Domi/iion  as  she 
conceives  it  shall  determine  the  destinies  of  mankind.  There  is, 
therefore,  but  one  response  possible  from  us:  Force,  Force  to  the 
utmost.  Force  zvithout  stint  or  limit,  the  righteous  and  triumph- 
ant Force  which  shall  make  Right  the  laiu  of  the  world,  and  cast 
every   selfish   dominion   down   in   the   dust. 

Comments  on  Anniversary  Speech  at  Baltimore. 

Columbia  State:  "President  Wilson  is  the  living  voice  of  this 
war,  as  France  is  its  living  soul.  With  Wilson  as  the  inspiration, 
with  Foch  as  the  directing  genius  of  the  war,  and  with  the  un- 
conquerable troops  of  all  the  Allies  as  the  resistless  enginery  of 
battle,  victory  is  certain." 

Figaro:  "Finally  Germany's  character  has  been  revealed 
to  President  Wilson  as  that  of  a  monster  nation,  existing  only  by 
devouring  others  until  it  shall  devour  itself." 

New  York  Evening  Post:  "Now  the  Teutonic  peace  propa- 
ganda has  killed  itself,  and  \lr.  Wilson  once  more  rallies  all 
elements  in  this  Country  to  the  united  support  of  the  war  b\ 
showing  the  insincerity  and  the  duplicity  of  the  enemy's  peace- 
overtures." 

APRIL  9-10,  1918— Ger.mans  Drive  against  Arras. 

("The'  Pillar  of  Arras"  had  held  up  the  first  Gerjnan  tide 
in  its  siveep  loivard  the  Channel  Ports.  Desperate  fighting  met 
-with  a  more  dt'Spcrate  resistance.  Reserves  were  brought  up  in 
sufficient  forces  to   hold.) 

115 


AMERICANISM 

APRIL  12,  1918 — General  Haig  Issues  his  Famous  "Back  to 

THE  Wall"  Order  of  the  Day. 

{"With  our  backs  to  the  wall  .  .  .  each  one  of  us  must  fight 
on  to  the  end  ..."  He  told  his  soldiers  that  the  French  were 
on  the  way.  They  fought  on;  the  French  came,  and  the  Germans 
IV ere  held.) 

MAY  II,   1918 — President  Wilson   Issues  a   Memorial  Day 
Proclamation. 

Memorial  Day  Proclamation. 

A  Proclamation  :  Whereas,  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  on  the  second  day  of  April  last  passed  the  following  reso- 
lution: 

"Resolved  by  the  Senate  (the  House  of  Representatives  con- 
curring). That  it  being  a  duty  peculiarly  incumbent  in  a  time 
of  war  humbly  and  devoutly  to  acknowledge  our  dependence  on 
Almighty  God  and  to  implore  His  aid  and  protection,  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  be.  and  is  hereby,  respectfully  requested 
to  recommend  a  day  of  public  humiliation,  prayer  and  fasting, 
to  be  observed  by  the  people  of  the  United  States  with  religious 
solemnity  and  the  offering  of  fervent  supplications  to  Almighty 
God  for  the  safety  and  welfare  of  our  cause.  His  blessings  on 
our  arms,  and  a  speedy  restoration  of  an  honorable  and  lasting 
peace  to  the  nations  of  the  earth"; 

And  whereas,  it  has  always  been  the  reverent  habit  of  the 
people  of  the  United  States  to  turn  in  humble  appeal  to  Almighty 
God   for   His  guidance   in  the   affairs  of  their   common   life; 

Now,  therefore,  I,  Woodrow  Wilson,  President  of  the 
United  States  of  America,  do  hereby  proclaim  Thursday,  the 
30th  of  May,  a  day  already  freighted  with  sacred  and  stimulat- 
ing memories,  a  day  of  public  humiliation,  prayer  and  fasting, 
and  do  exhort  my  fellow-citizens  of  all  faiths  and  creeds  to 
assemble  on  that  day  in  their  several  places  of  worship  and 
there,  as  well  as  in  their  homes,  to  pray  Almighty  God  that  He 
may  forgive  our  sins  and  shortcomings  as  a  people  and  purify 
our  hearts  to  see  and  love  the  truth,  to  accept  and  defend  all 
things  that  are  just  and  right,  and  to  purpose  only  those  righteous 
acts  and  judgments  which  are  in  conformity  with  His  will;  be- 
seeching Him  that  He  will  give  victory  for  our  Armies  as  they 
fight  for  freedom,  wisdom  to  those  \\ho  take  counsel  on  our 
behalf  in  these  days  of  dark  struggle  and  perplexity  and  stead- 
fastness to  our  people  to  make  sacrifice  to  the  utmost  in  support 
of   what  is  just   and    true,   bringing   us   at   last   the   peace  in   which 

116 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

men's  hearts  can  be  at  rest  because  it  is  founded  upon  mercy, 
justice  and  good  will. 

In  witness  whereof  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  caused 
the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

Done  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  this  11th  day  of  May,  in 
the  year  of  our  Lord,  1918,  and  of  the  independence  of  the 
United  States  the  142d.  Woodrow  Wilson. 

MAY  20,    1918 — President  Wilson   Delivers  an  Address  at 
New  York  Launching  a  Red  Cross   Drive. 
{Another   splendid  war   utterance ;   another    rallying   cry,   re- 
sponded  to    throughout   the   nation.      President   Wilson   asked   the 
nation  for  "troops  tvithout  limit.") 

"TROOPS  WITHOUT  LIMIT." 

President  Wilson   Restates  War  Aims  and  asks  for   More 

Soldiers. 
{Abridged) 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Fellow  Countrymen:  I  should  be  very 
sorry  to  think  that  Mr.  Davison  in  any  degree  curtailed  his 
extraordinarily  interesting  speech  for  fear  that  he  w^as  postponing 
mine,  because  I  am  sure  you  listened  with  the  same  intent  and 
intimate  interest  with  which  I  listened  to  the  extraordinary  vivid 
account  he  gave  of  the  things  which  he  had  realized  because  he 
had  come  in  contact  with  them  on  the  other  side  of  the  waters. 

We  compass  them  with  our  imagination;  he  compassed  them 
in  his  personal  experience,  and  I  am  not  come  here  tonight  to 
review  for  you  the  work  of  the  Red  Cross;  I  am  not  competent 
to  do  so  because  I  have  not  had  the  time  or  the  opportunity  to 
follow  it  in  detail.  I  have  come  here  simply  to  say  a  few  words 
to  you  as  to  what  it  all  seems  to  me  to  mean,  and  it  means 
a  great  deal. 

There  are  two  duties  with  which  we  are  face  to  face.  The 
first  duty  is  to  win  the  war.  And  the  second  duty,  that  goes 
hand  in  hand  with  it,  is  to  win  it  greatly  and  worthily,  show- 
ing the  real  quality  of  our  power  not  only,  but  the  real  quality 
of  our  purpose  and  of  ourselves.  Of  course,  the  first  duty,  the 
duty  that  we  must  keep  in  the  foreground  of  our  thought  until 
it  is  accomplished,   is  to  win  the   war. 

No  Limit  to  Troops. 

I  have  heard  gentlemen  recently  sav  that  we  must  get 
5.000,000  men  ready.     Why  limit  it  to  5,000,000?     I  have  asked 

117 


AMERICANISM 

the  Congress  of  the  United  States  to  name  no  limit  because  the 
Congress  intends,  1  am  sure,  as  we  all  intend,  that  every  ship 
that  can  carry  men  or  supplies  shall  go  laden  upon  every  voyage 
with  every  man  and  every  supply  she  can  carry.  And  we  are 
not  to  be  diverted  from  the  grim  purpose  of  winning  the  war  by 
any  insincere  approaches  upon  the  subject  of  peace. 

I  can  say  with  a  clear  conscience  that  I  have  tested  their 
intimations  and  have  found  them  insincere.  I  now  recognize 
them  for  what  they  are,  an  opportunity  to  have  a  free  hand, 
particularly  in  the  cast,  to  carry  out  purposes  of  conquest  and 
exploitation. 

Every  proposal  with  regard  to  accommodation  in  the  west 
involves  a  reservation  with  regard  to  the  east.  Now,  so  far  as 
1    am  concerned.   I  intend  to  stand  by  Russia  as  well  as  France. 

The  helpless,  the  friendless,  are  the  very  ones  that  need 
friends  and  succor,  and  if  any  man  in  Germany  thinks  we  are 
going  to  sacrifice  anybody  for  our  own  sake,  I  tell  them  now  they 
are  mistaken.  For  the  glory  of  this  war,  my  fellow  citizens,  so 
far  as  we  are  concerned,  is  that  it  is,  perhaps  for  the  first  time 
in  history,  an  unselfish  war. 

I  should  not  be  proud  to  fight  for  a  selfish  purpose,  but  I 
can  be  proud  to  fight  for  mankind.  If  they  wish  peace,  let  them 
come  forward  through  accredited  representatives  and  lay  their 
claims  on  the  table.  We  have  laid  ours  and  they  know  what 
they  are. 

The  Ties  of  War. 

But  behind  all  this  grim  purpose,  my  friends,  lies  the  oppor- 
tunity to  demonstrate  not  only  force,  which  will  be  demonstrated 
to  the  utmost,  but  the  opportunity  to  demonstrate  character, 
and  it  is  that  opportunity  that  we  have  most  conspicuously  in 
the  work  of  the  Red  Cross.  Not  that  our  men  in  arms  do  not 
represent  our  character,  for  they  do,  and  it  is  a  character  which 
those  who  see  and  realize,  appreciate  and  admire;  but  their  dut\ 
is  the  duty  of  force.  The  duty  of  the  Red  Cross  is  the  duty 
of  mercy    and   succor   and    friendship. 

Have  j"0U  formed  a  picture  in  your  imagination  of  what  this 
war  is  doing  for  us  and  for  the  world?  In  my  own  mind  I  am 
convinced  that  not  a  hundred  years  of  peace  could  have  knitted 
this  nation  togetlier  as  this  single  year  of  war  has  knitted  ir 
together,  and  better  even  than  that,  if  possible,  it  is  knitting 
the  world  together. 

Look  at  the  picture.  In  the  center  of  the  scene  four  nations 
engaged  against  the  world,  and  at  every  point  of  vantage,  show- 
ing   that    they    are    seeking    selfish    aggrandizement,    and    against 

118 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

them  23  governments  representing  the  greater  part  of  the  popu- 
lation of  the  world,  drawn  together  into  a  new  sense  of  com- 
munity of  purpose,  a  new  sense  of  community  of  interest,  a  new 
sense  of  unity  of  life.   .    .    . 

Friendship  is  the  only  cement  that  will  ever  hold  the  world 
together.  And  this  intimate  contact  of  the  Red  Cross  with  the 
peoples  who  are  suffering  the  terrors  and  deprivations  of  this  war 
is  going  to  be  one  of  the  greatest  instrumentalities  of  friendship 
that  the  world  ever  knew,  and  the  centre  of  the  heart  of  it  all,  if 
we  sustain  it  properly,  will  be  this  land  that  we  so  dearly  love.  .  .   . 

MAY    27,    1918 — Germans    Launch    Another    Drive    from 
Chemin  DBS  Dames. 

(  This  drive  was  aimed  against  the  French,  with  the  object 
of  striking  through  between  Soissons  and  Rheims,  reaching  the 
Marne  and  swinging  down  to  Paris.  It  flowed  over  Soissons, 
reached  the  Marne,  but  did  not  swing  down  to  Paris,  the  pillar 
at  Rhei?ns  holding  this  time  and  threatening  the  flank  of  such  a 
movement,  had  it  been  attempted.  Efforts  to  dislodge  the  French 
from  Rheims  were  futile  and  the  offensive  died  away  with  the 
Germans  at  the  Marne  for  the  second  time  in  the  war.) 

JUNE  1,  1918 — Germans  Reach  the  Marne. 

JUNE  7,  1918 — President  Wilson  talks  to  a  group  of  Mexi- 
can Editors  visiting  the  United  States. 

{This  talk  is  perhaps  one  of  the  President's  most  important 
utterances  during  the  war.  It  throws  a  bright  white  light  upon 
his  Mexican  policy,  at  one  time  the  object  of  violent  criticism,  as 
a  demonstration  of  the  principles  of  international  relationship  and 
responsibility  upon  which  his  statesmanship  is  founded.  It 
brings  out  the  contrast  between  the  Wilson  and  the  Prussian 
policy  of  winning  nations.  The  United  States  had  been  feared 
with  varying  degrees  of  distrust  from  the  Rio  Grande  to  Cape 
Horn,  for  years.  "Dollar  diplomacy"  was  a  more  or  less  accurate 
epithet  applied  to  our  foreign  policy.  Certain  events  of  recent 
years  had  not  quieted  the  distrust  or  discredited  the  epithet.  This 
informal  and  intimate  self-revelation  will  doubtless  prove  to  have 
been  its  death  blow.  The  visiting  Editors  luho  heard  it  ivere  luholly 
convinced  of  the  man's  sincerity,  earnestness  and  power.  Publication 
of  this  speech  luas  withheld  in  the  JJiited  States  until  it  appeared  in 
the  Mexican  papers.) 

119 


AMERICAxNISM 

"WE  MUST  TRUST  EACH  OTHER." 

A  Talk  to  Visiting  Mexican  Editors,  at  the  White  House, 

June  7,  1918. 
Gentlemen:  {Complete) 

I  have  never  received  a  group  of  men  who  were  more  welcome 
than  you  are,  because  it  has  been  one  of  my  distresses  during  the 
period  of  my  Presidency  that  the  Mexican  people  did  not  more 
thoroughly  understand  the  attitude  of  the  United  States  toward 
Mexico.  I  think  I  can  assure  you,  and  1  hope  you  have  had  every 
evidence  of  the  truth  of  my  assurance,  that  that  attitude  is  one 
of  sincere  friendship.  And  not  merely  the  sort  of  friendship  which 
prompts  one  not  to  do  his  neighbor  any  harm,  but  the  sort  of 
friendship  which  earnestly  desires  to  do  his  neighbor  service. 

My  own  policy,  the  policy  of  my  administration,  toward 
Mexico  was  at  every  point  based  upon  this  principle,  that  the 
internal  settlement  of  the  affairs  of  Mexico  was  none  of  our 
business;  that  we  had  no  right  to  interfere  with  or  to  dictate  to 
Mexico  in  any  particular  with  regard  to  her  own  affairs.  Take 
one  aspect  of  our  relations  which  at  one  time  may  have  been 
difficult  for  you  to  understand:  When  we  sent  troops  into 
Mexico,  our  sincere  desire  was  nothing  else  than  to  assist  you 
to  get  rid  of  a  man  who  was  making  the  settlement  of  your 
affairs  for  the  time  being  impossible.  We  had  no  desire  to  use 
our  troops  for  any  other  purpose,  and  I  was  in  hopes  that  by 
assisting  in  that  way  and  then  immediately  withdrawing  I  might 
give  substantial  proof  of  the  truth  of  the  assurances  that  I  had 
given  your  Government  through  President  Carranza. 

And  at  the  present  time  it  distresses  me  to  learn  that  certain 
influences,  which  I  assume  to  be  German  in  their  origin,  are 
trj-ing  to  make  a  wrong  impression  throughout  Mexico  as  to  the 
purposes  of  the  United  States,  and  not  only  a  wrong  impression, 
but  to  give  an  absolutely  untrue  account  of  things  that  happen. 
You  know  the  distressing  things  that  have  been  happening  just 
off  our  coasts.  You  know  of  the  vessels  that  have  been  sunk. 
I  yesterday  received  a  quotation  from  a  paper  in  Guadalajara 
which  stated  that  thirteen  of  our  battleships  had  been  sunk  off 
the  capes  of  the  Chesapeake.  You  see  how  dreadful  it  is  to  have 
people  so  radically  misinformed.  It  was  added  that  our  Navy 
Department  was  withholding  the  truth  with  regard  to  these  sink- 
ings. I  have  no  doubt  that  the  publisher  of  the  paper  published 
that  in  perfect  innocence  without  intending  to  convey  wrong  im- 
pressions, but  it  is  evident  that  allegations  of  that  sort  proceed 
from  those  who  wish  to  make  trouble  between  Mexico  and  the 
United  States. 

120 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

We  Only  Want  to  Help. 

Now,  gentlemen,  for  the  time  being,  at  any  rate — and  I  hope 
it  will  not  be  a  short  time — the  influence  of  the  United  States  is 
somewhat  pervasive  in  the  affairs  of  the  world,  and  I  believe  that 
it  is  pervasive  because  the  nations  of  the  world  which  are  less 
powerful  than  some  of  the  greatest  nations  are  coming  to  believe 
that  our  sincere  desire  is  to  do  disinterested  service.  We  are 
the  champions  of  those  nations  which  have  not  had  a  military 
standing  which  would  enable  them  to  compete  with  the  strongest 
nations  in  the  world,  and  I  look  forward  with  pride  to  the  time, 
which  I  hope  will  soon  come,  when  we  can  give  substantial  evi- 
dence, not  only  that  we  do  not  want  anything  out  of  this  war,  but 
that  we  would  not  accept  anything  out  of  it,  that  it  is  absolutely 
a  case  of  disinterested  action.  And  if  you  will  watch  the  attitude 
of  our  people,  you  will  see  that  nothing  stirs  them  so  deeply  as 
assurances  that  this  war,  so  far  as  we  are  concerned,  is  for  ideal- 
istic objects.  One  of  the  difficulties  that  I  experienced  during  the 
first  three  years  of  the  war — the  years  when  the  United  States 
was  not  in  the  war — was  in  getting  the  foreign  offices  of  Euro- 
pean nations  to  believe  that  the  United  States  was  seeking  nothing 
for  herself,  that  her  neutrality  was  not  selfish,  and  that  if  she 
came  in,  she  would  not  come  in  to  get  anything  substantial  out 
of  the  war,  any  material  object,  any  territory,  or  trade,  or  any- 
thing else  of  that  sort.  In  some  of  the  foreign  offices  there  were 
men  who  personally  knew  me  and  they  believed,  I  hope,  that  I 
was  sincere  in  assuring  them  that  our  purposes  were  disinterested, 
but  they  thought  that  these  assurances  came  from  an  academic 
gentleman  removed  from  the  ordinary  sources  of  information  and 
speaking  the  idealistic  purposes  of  the  cloister.  They  did  not  be- 
lieve that  I  was  speaking  the  real  heart  of  the  American  people, 
and  I  knew  all  along  that  I  was.  Now  I  believe  that  everybody 
who  comes  into  contact  with  the  American  people  knows  that  I 
am   speaking  their  purposes. 

The  other  night  in  New  York,  at  the  opening  of  the  campaign 
for  funds  for  our  Red  Cross,  I  made  an  address.  I  had  not 
intended  to  refer  to  Russia,  but  I  was  speaking  without  notes 
and  in  the  course  of  what  I  said  my  own  thought  was  led  to 
Russia,  and  I  said  that  we  meant  to  stand  by  Russia  just  as  firmly 
as  we  would  stand  by  France  or  England  or  any  other  of  the 
allies.  The  audience  to  which  I  was  speaking  was  not  an  audience 
from  which  I  would  have  expected  an  enthusiastic  response  to 
that.  It  was  rather  too  well  dressed.  It  was  not  an  audience, 
in  other  words,  made  of  the  class  of  people  whom  you  would  sup- 
pose to  have  the  most  intimate  feeling  for  the  sufferings  of  the 

121 


AMERICANISM 

ordinary  man  in  Russia,  but  that  audience  jumped  into  the  aisles, 
the  whole  audience  rose  to  its  feet,  and  nothing  that  1  had  said 
on  that  occasion  aroused  anything  like  the  enthusiasm  that  that 
single  sentence  aroused.  Now,  there  is  a  sample,  gentlemen.  We 
can  not  make  anything  out  of  Russia.  We  can  not  make  anything 
out  of  standing  by  Russia  at  this  time — the  most  remote  of  the 
European  nations,  so  far  as  we  are  concerned,  the  one  with  which 
we  have  had  the  least  connections  in  trade  and  advantage — and  yet 
the  people  of  the  United  States  rose  to  that  suggestion  as  to  no 
other  that  I  made  in  that  address.  That  is  the  heart  of  America, 
and  we  are  ready  to  show  you  by  any  act  of  friendship  that  you 
may  propose  our  real  feelings  toward  Mexico. 

We  Have  No  Designs  On  America. 

Some  of  us,  if  I  may  say  so  privately,  look  back  with  regret 
upon  some  of  the  more  ancient  relations  that  we  have  had  with 
Mexico  long  before  our  generation;  and  America,  if  I  may  so 
express  it,  would  now  feel  ashamed  to  take  advantage  of  a  neigh- 
bor. So  I  hope  that  you  can  carry  back  to  your  homes  something 
better  than  the  assurances  of  words.  You  have  had  contact  with 
our  people.  You  know  your  own  personal  reception.  You  know 
how  gladly  we  have  opened  to  you  the  doors  of  every  establishment 
that  you  wanted  to  see  and  have  shown  you  just  what  we  were 
doing,  and  I  hope  you  have  gained  the  right  impression  as  to  why 
we  were  doing  it.  We  are  doing  it,  gentlemen,  so  that  the  world 
may  never  hereafter  have  to  fear  the  only  thing  that  any  nation 
has  to  dread,  the  unjust  and  selfish  aggression  of  another  nation. 
Some  time  ago,  as  you  probably  all  know,  I  proposed  a  sort  of 
Pan-American  agreement.  I  had  perceived  that  one  of  the  diffi- 
culties of  our  relationship  with  Latin  America  was  this:  The 
famous  Monroe  doctrine  was  adopted  without  your  consent,  with- 
out the  consent  of  any  of  the  Central  or  South  American  States. 

If  I  may  express  it  in  terms  that  we  so  often  use  in  this 
countrj',  we  said,  "We  are  going  to  be  your  big  brother,  whether 
you  want  us  to  be  or  not."  We  did  not  ask  whether  it  was  agree- 
able to  you  that  we  should  be  your  big  brother.  We  said  we  were 
going  to  be.  Now,  that  was  all  very  well  so  far  as  protecting 
you  from  aggression  from  the  other  side  of  the  water  was  con- 
cerned, but  there  was  nothing  in  it  that  protected  you  from  aggres- 
sion from  us,  and  I  have  repeatedly  seen  the  uneasy  feeling  on  the 
part  of  representatives  of  the  States  of  Central  and  South  America 
that  our  self-appointed  protection  might  be  for  our  own  benefit 
and  our  own  interests  and  not  for  the  interest  of  our  neighbors. 
So   I   said,  very  well,  let  us  make  an   arrangement  by  which  we 

122 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

will  give  bond.  Let  us  have  a  common  guarantee,  that  all  of  us 
will  sign,  of  political  independence  and  territorial  integrity.  Let 
us  agree  that  if  any  one  of  us,  the  United  States  included,  violates 
the  political  independence  or  the  territorial  integrity  of  any  of  the 
others,  all  the  others  will  jump  on  her.  I  pointed  out  to  some 
of  the  gentlemen  who  were  less  inclined  to  enter  into  this  arrange- 
men  than  others  that  that  was  in  effect  giving  bonds  on  the  part 
of  the  United  States,  that  we  would  enter  into  an  arrangement 
by  which  you  would  be  protected  from  us. 

We  Should  Show  the  Way  to  the  World. 

Now,  that  is  the  kind  of  agreement  that  will  have  to  be  the 
foundation  of  the  future  life  of  the  nations  of  the  world,  gentle- 
men. The  whole  family  of  nations  will  have  to  guarantee  to  each 
nation  that  no  nation  shall  violate  its  political  independence  or  its 
territorial  integrity.  That  is  the  basis,  the  only  conceivable  basis, 
for  the  future  peace  of  the  world,  and  I  must  admit  that  I  was 
ambitious  to  have  the  States  of  the  two  continents  of  America 
show  the  way  to  the  rest  of  the  world  as  to  how  to  make  a  basis 
of  peace.  Peace  can  come  only  by  trust.  As  long  as  there  is 
suspicion  there  is  going  to  be  misunderstanding,  and  as  long  as 
there  is  misunderstanding  there  is  going  to  be  trouble.  If  you 
can  once  get  a  situation  of  trust  then  you  have  got  a  situation  of 
permanent  peace.  Therefore,  every  one  of  us,  it  seems  to  me, 
owes  it  as  a  patriotic  duty  to  his  own  country  to  plant  the  seeds 
of  trust  and  of  confidence  instead  of  the  seeds  of  suspicion  and 
variety  of  interest.  That  is  the  reason  that  I  began  by  saying  to 
you  that  I  have  not  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  a  group  of  men 
who  were  more  welcome  than  you  are,  because  you  are  our  near 
neighbors.  Suspicion  on  your  part  or  misunderstanding  on  your 
part  distresses  us  more  than  we  would  be  distressed  by  similar 
feelings  on  the  part  of  those  less  near  by. 

When  you  reflect  how  wonderful  a  storehouse  of  treasure 
Mexico  is,  you  can  see  how  her  future  must  depend  upon  peace 
and  honor,  so  that  nobody  shall  exploit  her.  It  must  depend  upon 
every  nation  that  has  any  relations  with  her,  and  the  citizens  of 
any  nation  that  has  relations  with  her,  keeping  within  the  bounds 
of  honor  and  fair  dealing  and  justice,  because  so  soon  as  you  can 
admit  your  own  capital  and  the  capital  of  the  world  to  the  free 
use  of  the  resources  of  Mexico,  it  will  be  one  of  the  most  won- 
derfully rich  and  prosperous  countries  in  the  world.  And  when 
you  have  the  foundations  of  established  order,  and  the  world  has 
come  to  its  senses  again,  we  shall,  I  hope,  have  the  very  best  con- 
nections that  will  assure  us  all  a  permanent  cordiality  and  friend- 
ship. 

123 


AMERICANISM 

Comment  on  Talk  to  the  Mexican  Editors. 

The  visiting  editors  agreed  that  the  President's  frank  speech 
had  done  more  to  combat  pro-Germanism  and  promote  the  inter- 
ests of  America  in  Mexico  than  has  any  diplomatic  move  since 
the  days  of  Diaz. 

Manuel  Caspo,  Editor  of  La  Vos  de  la  Revolucion,  Merida, 
Yucatan:  "We  have  decided  that  your  President  is  our  friend, 
and  when  we  go  back  we  shall  be  able  to  enlighten  our  people." 

Mercurio,    Santiago,    Chile:      ".      .      .      will    result    in    added 
prestige  to  all  the  nations  on  the  American  continent." 

New  York  Globe:  "Not  only  a  complete  vindication  of  the 
complicated  and  much  misunderstood  Mexican  policy  of  the  Ad- 
ministration, but  the  foundation  on  which  for  all  time  Pan- 
American  peace  can  rise." 

Detroit  News:  "His  words  represent  the  deepest  and  most 
abiding  intention  of  the  people  of  the  United  States." 

Neivark  News:  "To  see  the  President's  project  in  all  the 
fullness  of  its  significance,  it  is  necessary  only  to  contrast  it  with 
the  proposal  put  forth  at  almost  the  same  time  by  Vice-Chancellor 
von  Payer,  of  Germany,  for  a  Mitteleuropa  that  would  bring 
Russia,  Poland,  Bulgaria  and  Turkey  under  the  permanent  polit- 
ical and  economic  dominion  of  Germany  and  its  vassal  Austria. 
The  German  plan  is  all  for  self;  the  Wilson  plan  is  all  for  all. 
Materialism  and  idealism  sit  facing  one  another." 

London  Daily  Graphic:  "Upon  such  altruism  alone  can  an 
enduring  peace  be  founded." 

The  Daily  Neivs  hails  Mr.  Wilson  as  "the  architect  of  the 
world's  future." 

JUNE  12,  1918 — The  President  writes  a  letter  on  Suffrage. 
(President  Wilson's  record  on  Woman's  Suffrage  is  an  illus- 
tration of  his  ability  to  let  his  opinions  grow.  Whilst  subscribing 
to  it  as  an  abstract  principle,  he  was  at  first  strongly  inclined  to 
let  the  states  settle  the  problem,  pleading  that  he  had  no  mandate 
either  from  the  people  or  the  party  to  make  a  national  issue  of  it. 
Its  deeper  meanings,  however,  as  a  phase  and  aspect  of  the  uni- 
versal democracy  for  which  the  nation  had  entered  the  war,  began 
to  find  expression  through  him,  until  we  here  see  Itim  advocating 
nation-u'ide  woman's   suffrage   as   essential  to    ivorld  democracy.) 

A  Letter  on  Suffrage  to  Mrs.  Catt. 

My  Dear  Mrs.  Catt:  May  I  not  thank  you  for  transmitting 
to  me  the  very  interesting  memorial  addressed  to  be  by  the  French 
Union  for  Woman  Suffrage  under  date  of  February  first,  last. 

124 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

Since  you  have  been  kind  enough  to  transmit  this  interesting 
and  impressive  message  to  me,  will  you  not  be  good  enough  to 
convey  to  the  subscribers  this  answer: 

I  have  read  your  message  with  the  deepest  interest  and  I 
welcome  the  opportunity  to  say  that  I  agree  without  reservation 
that  the  full  and  sincere  democratic  reconstruction  of  the  world 
for  which  we  are  striving  and  which  we  are  determined  to  bring 
about  at  any  cost,  will  not  have  been  completely  or  adequately 
attained  until  women  are  admitted  to  the  suffrage,  and  that  only 
by  that  action  can  the  nations  of  the  world  realize  for  the  benefir 
of  future  generations  the  full  ideal  force  of  opinion  or  the  full 
humane  forces  of  action. 

The  services  of  women  during  this  supreme  crisis  of  the 
world's  history  have  been  of  the  most  signal  usefulness  and  dis- 
tinction. The  war  could  not  have  been  fought  without  them,  or 
its  sacrifices  endured.  It  is  high  time  that  some  part  of  our  debt 
of  gratitude  to  them  should  be  acknowledged  and  paid,  and  the 
only  acknowledgment  they  ask  is  their  admission  to  the  suffrage. 
Can  we  justly  refuse  it?  As  for  America,  it  is  my  earnest  hope 
that  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  will  give  an  unmistakable 
answer  to  this  question  by  passing  the  suffrage  amendment  to  our 
Federal  Constitution  before  the  end  of  this  session. 

Cordially  and  sincerely  yours. 

(Signed)  Woodrow  Wilsox. 

JULY  4,  1918 — President  Wilson   speaks   at  the  Tomb   of 
Washington. 

{President  Wilson  commits  the  nation  to  fight  on  until  the 
world  is  free.  One  of  the  most  solemn,  cosmic  and  moving  of 
all  his  utterances.     Foreign  representatives  were  present.) 

"WE  SEEK  THE  REIGN   OF  LAW." 

Fourth  of  July  Address  at  Washington's  To.mb. 
{(Wjmplete) 

Gentlemen  of  the  diplomatic  corps  and  my  fellow  citizens: 
1  am  happy  to  draw  apart  with  you  to  this  quiet  place  of  old 
counsel  in  order  to  speak  a  little  of  the  meaning  of  this  day  of 
our  nation's  independence.  The  place  seems  very  still  and  remote. 
It  is  as  serene  and  untouched  by  hurry  of  the  world  as  it  was  in 
those  great  days  long  ago  when  General  Washington  was  here 
and  held  leisurely  conference  with  the  men  who  were  to  bt- 
associated  with  him  in  the  creation  of  a  nation.     From  these  gentle 

125 


AMERICANISM 

slopes  they  looked  out  upon  the  world  and  saw  it  whole,  saw  it 
with  the  light  of  the  future  upon  it,  saw  it  with  modern  eyes 
that  turned  away  from  a  past  which  men  of  liberated  spirits 
could  no  longer  endure.  It  is  for  that  reason  that  we  cannot  feel, 
even  here,  in  the  immediate  presence  of  this  sacred  tomb,  that  this 
is  a  place  of  death.  It  was  a  place  of  achievement.  A  great 
promise  that  was  meant  for  all  mankind  was  here  given  plan  and 
reality.  The  associations  by  which  we  are  here  surrounded  are 
the  inspiring  associations  of  that  noble  death  which  is  only  a  glo- 
rious consummation.  From  this  green  hillside  we  also  ought  to 
be  able  to  see  with  comprehending  eyes  the  world  that  lies  around 
us  and  conceive  anew  the  purpose  that  must  set  men  free. 

Thev,  Too,  Spoke  for  All  Mankind. 

It  is  significant — significant  of  their  own  character  and  pur- 
pose and  of  the  influences  they  are  setting  afoot — that  Washing- 
ton and  his  associates,  like  the  barons  at  Runnymede,  spoke  and 
acted,  not  for  a  class  but  for  a  people.  It  has  been  left  for  us 
to  see  to  it  that  it  shall  be  understood  that  they  spoke  and  acted, 
not  for  a  single  people  only  but  for  all  mankind.  They  were 
thinking,  not  of  themselves  and  of  the  material  interests  which 
centered  in  the  little  group  of  landholders  and  merchants  and 
men  of  affairs  with  whom  they  were  accustomed  to  act,  in  Vir- 
ginia and  the  colonies  to  the  north  and  south  of  here,  but  of  a 
people  who  wished  to  be  done  with  classes  and  special  interests 
and  the  authority  of  men  whom  they  had  not  themselves  chosen 
to  rule  over  them.  They  entertained  no  private  purpose,  desired 
no  peculiar  privilege.  They  were  consciously  planning  that  men 
of  every  class  should  be  free  and  America  a  place  to  which  men 
out  of  every  nation  might  resort  who  wished  to  share  with  them 
the  rights  and  privileges  of  freemen.  And  we  take  our  cue  from 
them — do  we  not?  We  intend  what  they  intended.  We  here  in 
America  believe  our  participation  in  this  present  war  to  be  only 
the  fruitage  of  what  they  planted.  Our  case  ditters  from  theirs 
only  in  this,  that  it  is  our  inestimable  privilege  to  concert  with 
men  out  of  every  nation  what  shall  make  not  only  the  liberties 
of  America  secure  but  the  liberties  of  every  other  people  as  well. 
We  are  happy  in  the  thought  that  we  are  permitted  to  do  what 
they  would  have  done  had  they  been  in  our  place.  There  must 
now  be  settled  once  for  all  what  was  settled  for  America  in  the 
great  age  upon  whose  inspiration  wc  draw  today.  Tiiis  is  surely 
a  fitting  place  from  which  calmly  to  look  out  upon  our  task,  that 
we  may  fortify  our  spirits  for  its  accomplishment.  And  this  is 
the  appropriate  place  from  which  to  avow,  alike  to  the  friends  who 

126 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

look  on  and  to  the  friends  with  whom  we  have  had  the  happiness 
to  be  associated  in  action,  the  faith  and  purposes  with  which  we 
act. 

The  Issue  Is  Clear. 

This,  then,  is  our  conception  of  the  great  struggle  in  which 
we  are  engaged.  The  plot  is  written  plain  upon  every  scene  and 
every  act  of  the  supreme  tragedy.  On  the  one  hand  stand  the 
peoples  of  the  world — not  only  the  peoples  actually  engaged,  but 
many  others  also  who  suffered  under  mastery  but  cannot  act; 
peoples  of  many  races  and  every  part  of  the  world — the  peoples 
of  stricken  Russia  still,  among  the  rest,  though  they  are  for  the 
moment  unorganized  and  helpless.  Opposed  to  them,  masters  of 
many  armies,  stand  an  isolated,  friendless  group  of  governments 
who  speak  no  common  purpose  but  only  selfish  ambitions  of  their 
own  by  which  none  can  profit  but  themselves,  and  whose  peoples 
are  fuel  in  their  hands;  governments  which  fear  their  people  and 
yet  are  for  the  time  their  sovereign  lords,  making  every  choice 
for  them  and  disposing  of  their  lives  and  fortunes  as  they  will, 
as  well  as  of  the  lives  and  fortunes  of  every  people  who  fall  under 
their  power — governments  clothed  with  the  strange  trappings  and 
the  primitive  authority  of  an  age  that  is  altogether  alien  and  hos- 
tile to  our  own.  The  past  and  the  present  are  in  deadly  grapple 
and  the  peoples  of  the  world  are  being  done  to  death  between 
them. 

The  Settlement  Must  Be  Final. 

There  can  be  but  one  issue.  The  settlement  must  be  finaL 
There  can  be  no  compromise.  No  half-way  decision  would  be 
■tolerable.  No  half-way  decision  is  conceivable.  These  are  thr 
ends  for  which  the  associated  peoples  of  the  world  are  fightinc 
and  which  must  be  conceded  them  before  there  can  be  peace: 

1.  The  destruction  of  every  arbitrary  power  anywhere  that 
can  separately,  secretly  and  of  its  single  choice  disturb  the  peace 
of  the  world;  or,  if  it  cannot  be  presently  destroyed,  at  the  least 
its  reduction  to  virtual  impotence. 

2.  The  settlement  of  every  question,  whether  of  territory, 
of  sovereignty,  of  economic  arrangement  or  of  political  relation- 
ship upon  the  basis  of  the  free  acceptance  of  the  settlement  by  the 
people  immediately  concerned,  and  not  upon  the  basis  of  the  mate- 
rial interest  or  advantage  of  any  other  nation  or  people  which 
may  desire  a  different  settlement  for  the  sake  of  its  own  exterior 
influence  or  mastery. 

3.  The  consent  of  all  nations  to  be  governed  in  their  con- 
duct toward  each  other  by  the  same  principles  of  honor  and  of 

127 


AMERICANISM 

respect  for  the  common  law  of  civilized  society  that  govern  the 
individual  citizens  of  all  modern  states  in  their  relations  with  one 
another;  to  the  end  that  all  promises  and  covenants  may  be  sa- 
credly observed,  no  private  plots  or  conspiracies  hatched,  no  selfish 
injuries  wrought  with  impunity,  and  a  mutual  trust  established 
upon  the  handsome  foundation  of  a  mutual  respect  for  right. 

4.  The  establishment  of  an  organization  of  peace  which  shall 
make  it  certain  that  the  combined  power  of  free  nations  will  check 
every  invasion  of  right  and  serve  to  make  peace  and  justice  the 
more  secure  by  affording  a  definite  tribunal  of  opinion  to  which 
all  must  submit  and  by  which  every  international  readjustment, 
that  cannot  be  amicably  agreed  upon  by  the  peoples  directly  con- 
cerned, shall  be  sanctioned. 

We  Seek  the  Reign  of  Law. 

These  great  objects  can  be  put  into  a  single  sentence.  What 
we  seek  is  the  reign  of  law,  based  upon  the  consent  of  the  gov- 
erned and  sustained  by  the  organized  opinion  of  mankind. 

These  great  ends  cannot  be  achieved  by  debating  and  seeking 
to  reconcile  and  accommodate  what  statesmen  may  wish,  with  their 
projects  for  balances  of  power  and  national  opportunit)'.  They 
can  be  realized  only  by  the  determination  of  what  the  thinking 
peoples  of  the  world  desire,  with  their  longing  hope  for  justice 
and  for  social  freedom  and  opportunity. 

I  cannot  but  fancy  that  the  air  of  this  place  carries  the  ac- 
cents of  such  principles  with  a  peculiar  kindness.  Here  were 
started  forces  which  the  great  nation  against  which  they  were 
primarily  directed  at  first  regarded  as  a  revolt  against  its  rightful 
authority,  but  which  it  has  long  since  seen  to  have  been  a  step 
in  the  liberation  of  its  own  peoples,  as  well  as  of  the  people  of 
the  United  States;  and  I  stand  here  now  to  speak — speak  proudly 
and  with  confident  hope — of  the  spread  of  this  revolt,  this  liber- 
ation, to  the  great  stage  of  the  world  itself!  The  blinded  rulers 
of  Prussia  have  roused  forces  they  know  little  of — forces  which, 
once  roused,  can  never  be  crushed  to  earth  again;  for  they  have 
at  their  heart  an  inspiration  and  a  Durpose  which  are  deathless 
and  of  the  very  stuff  of  triumph! 


JULY  15,  1918 — Germans  resume  general  offfnsivEj  strik- 
ing ON  BOTH  sides  OF  RheIMS. 

(An  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  German  High  Command  to 
clear  their  left  flank  before  striking  at  Paris  from  their  position 
astride  the  Marne.) 

128 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

JULY  15,  1918 — Americans  hold  Germans  at  Chateau 
Thierry  and  clear  the  south  bank  of  the  Marne  in 
their  sector. 

JULY  18,  1918 — Gen.  Foch  begins  counter  attack  on  the 

FLANKS    OF    THE    GeRMAN    SaLIENT    BETWEEN    SoiSSONS    AND 

Rheims. 

( The  definite  turn  in  the  tide  of  war  began  with  this  drive, 
mercilessly  maintained  by  Gen.  Foch  until  Germany,  broken  and 
terrified,  asked  for  peace  discussions,  early  in  October.) 

AUGUST  13,  1918 — President  Wilson  addresses  visiting 
Italian  Journalists. 

"Gentlemen:  We  are  not  here  in  the  service  of  Italy.  We 
are  not  here  in  the  service  of  America.  We  are  here  in  that  great- 
est of  all  services,  the  service  which  ennobles  all  who  engage  in  it, 
the  service  of  mankind." 

AUGUST  31,  1918 — President  Wilson  signs  bill  for  the 
second  selective  draft  including  men  from  18  to  45,  and 
issues  a  proclamation. 

SEPTEMBER  6,  1918 — Food  Administration  decrees  that  all 
breweries  must  close  December  1st. 

SEPTEMBER  12,  1918— The  First  American  Army  wipes 
out  the  St.  Mihiel  Salient. 

SEPTEMBER  15,  1918 — New  German  peace  offensive — Aus- 
tria asks  for  an  informal,  secret  discussion. 

SEPTEMBER    16,     1918 — President    Wilson    destroys    the 

latest  peace  offensive  in  68  WORDS. 

REPLY  TO  AUSTRIA 

"The  Government  of  the  United  States  feels  that  there  is  only 
one  reply  which  it  can  make  to  the  suggestion  of  the  Imperial  Aus- 
tro-Hungarian  Government.  It  has  repeatedly,  and  with  entire 
candor,  stated  the  terms  upon  which  the  United  States  would  con- 
sider peace,  and  can  and  will  entertain  no  proposal  for  a  conference 
upon  a  matter  concerning  which  it  has  made  its  position  and  pur- 
pose so  plain." 

129 


AMERICANISM 
SEPTEMBER  16,  1918— Offensive  begins  against  Bulgaria. 

SEPTEMBER  18-25,  1918— British  under  Gen.  Allenby 
SWEEP  Palestine  of  Turks,  capturing  two  armies  total- 
ing 40,000. 

SEPTEMBER  27,  1918— Bulgaria  sues  for  peace. 

SEPTEMBER  27,  1918— Fourth  Liberty  Loan  Drive  for 
$6,000,000,000  inaugurated  throughout  the  country. 
President  Wilson  delivers  an  address  in  New  York  City. 

(A  restatement  of  war  issues  and  a  more  definite  laying  down 
of  a  foundation  for  a  League  of  Nations.  He  asks  five  search- 
ing questions  and  submits  five  essentials  to  a  league.  In  many  re- 
spects his  most  memorable  and  momentous  utterance  up  to  this 
time.) 

"IMPARTIAL  JUSTICE  IS  THE  PRICE  OF  PEACE." 

Address  Delivered  in   New  York  at  the  Opening  of  the 
Fourth  Liberty  Loan  Drive. 

(Complete) 

My  Fellow  Citizens: 

I  am  not  here  to  promote  the  loan.  That  will  be  done,  ably 
and  enthusiastically  done,  by  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of  loyal 
and  tireless  men  and  women  who  have  undertaken  to  present  it  to 
you  and  our  fellow  citizens  throughout  the  country;  and  I  have  not 
the  least  doubt  of  their  complete  success;  for  I  know  their  spirit 
and  the  spirit  of  the  country.  My  confidence  is  confirmed,  too, 
by  the  thoughtful  and  experienced  co-operation  of  the  bankers  here 
and  everywhere,  who  are  lending  their  invaluable  aid  and  guidance. 
I  have  come,  rather,  to  seek  an  opportunity  to  present  to  you  some 
thoughts  which  I  trust  will  serve  to  give  you  in  perhaps  fuller 
measure  than  before,  a  vivid  sense  of  the  great  issues  involved, 
in  order  that  you  may  appreciate  and  accept,  with  added  enthu- 
siasm, the  grave  significance  of  the  duty  of  supporting  the  govern- 
ment by  your  men  and  your  means  to  the  utmost  point  of  sacri- 
fice and  self-denial.  No  man  or  woman  who  has  really  taken  in 
what  this  war  means  can  hesitate  to  give  to  the  very  limit  of  what 
they  have;  and  it  is  my  mission  here  tonight  to  try  to  make  it 
clear  once  more  what  the  war  really  means.  You  will  need  no 
other  stimulation  or  reminder  of  your  duty. 

130 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

"A  Peoples'  War/' 

At  every  turn  of  the  war  we  gain  a  fresh  consciousness  of 
what  we  mean  to  accomplish  by  it.  When  our  hope  and  expectation 
are  most  excited,  we  think  more  definitely  than  before  of  the  issues 
that  hang  upon  it  and  of  the  purposes  which  must  be  realized  by 
means  of  it.  For  it  has  positive  and  well-defined  purposes  which 
we  did  not  determine,  and  which  we  cannot  alter.  No  statesman 
or  assembly  created  them;  no  statesman  or  assembly  can  alter 
them.  They  have  arisen  out  of  the  very  nature  and  circumstances 
of  the  war.  The  most  that  statesmen  or  assemblies  can  do  is  to 
carry  them  out  or  be  false  to  them.  They  were,  perhaps,  not 
clear  at  the  outset;  but  they  are  clear  now.  The  war  has  lasted 
long  enough  to  draw  the  whole  world  into  it.  The  common  will 
of  mankind  has  been  substituted  for  the  particular  purposes  of 
individual  states.  Individual  statesmen  may  have  started  the  con- 
flict, hut  neither  they  nor  their  opponents  can  stop  it  as  they  please. 
It  has  become  a  peoples'  war,  and  peoples  of  all  sorts  and  races, 
of  every  degree  of  power  and  variety  of  fortune,  are  involved  in 
its  sweeping  processes  of  change  and  settlement.  We  came  into 
it  when  its  character  had  become  fully  defined  and  it  was  plain 
that  no  nation  could  stand  apart  or  be  indifferent  to  its  outcome. 
Its  challenge  drove  to  the  heart  of  everything  we  cared  for  and 
lived  for.  The  voice  of  the  war  had  become  clear  and  gripped  our 
hearts.  Our  brothers  from  many  lands,  as  well  as  our  own  mur- 
dered dead  under  the  sea,  were  calling  to  us,  and  we  responded, 
fiercely  and  of  course. 

Some  Penetrating  Questions. 

The  air  was  clear  about  us.  We  saw  things  in  their  full,  con- 
vincing proportions  as  they  were;  and  we  have  seen  them  with 
steady  eyes  and  unchanging  comprehension  ever  since.  We  ac- 
cepted the  issues  of  the  war  as  facts,  not  as  any  group  of  men 
either  here  or  elsewhere  had  defined  them,  and  we  can  accept  no 
outcome  which  does  not  squarely  meet  and  settle  them.  Those 
issues  are  these: 

Shall  the  military  power  of  any  nation  or  group  of  nations 
he  suffered  to  determine  the  fortunes  of  peoples  over  whom  they 
have  no  right  to  rule  except  the  rule  of  force? 

Shall  strong  nations  be  free  to  wrong  weak  nations  and  make 
them  subject  to  their  purpose  and  interest? 

Shall  peoples  be  ruled  and  dominated,  even  in  their  own  inter- 
nal affairs,  by  arbitrary  and  irresponsible  force,  or  by  their  own 
will  and  choice? 

131 


AMERICANISM 

Shall  there  be  a  common  standard  of  right  and  privilege  for 
all  peoples  and  nations,  or  shall  the  strong  do  as  they  will  and  the 
weak  suffer  without  redress? 

Shall  the  assertion  of  right  be  haphazard  and  by  casual  alli- 
ance, or  shall  there  be  a  common  concert  to  oblige  the  observance 
of  common  rights? 

No  man,  no  group  of  men,  chose  these  to  be  the  issues  of  the 
struggle.  They  are  the  issues  of  it;  and  they  must  be  settled — by 
no  arrangement  or  compromise  or  adjustment  of  interests,  but 
definitely  and  once  for  all  and  with  a  full  and  unequivocal  accep- 
tance of  the  principle  that  the  interest  of  the  weakest  is  as  sacred 
as  the  interest  of  the  strongest. 

This  is  what  we  mean  when  we  speak  of  a  permanent  peace, 
if  we  speak  sincerely,  intelligently,  and  with  a  real  knowledge  and 
comprehension  of  the  matter  we  deal  with. 

"No  Bargains,  no  Compromises,  Possible,  With  Our  Foes — 
OR  With  Ourselves." 

We  are  all  agreed  that  there  can  be  no  peace  obtained  by  any 
kind  of  bargain  or  compromise  with  the  governments  of  the  Central 
Empires,  because  we  have  dealt  with  them  already  and  have  seen 
them  deal  with  other  governments  that  were  parties  to  this  strug- 
gle, at  Brest-Litovsk  and  Bucharest.  They  observe  no  covenants, 
accept  no  law  but  force  and  their  own  interest.  We  cannot  "come 
to  terms"  with  them.  They  have  made  it  impossible.  The  Ger- 
man people  must,  by  this  time,  be  fully  aware  that  we  cannot 
accept  the  word  of  those  who  forced  this  war  upon  us.  We  do 
not  think  the  same  thoughts  or  speak  the  same  language  of  agree- 
ment. 

It  is  of  capital  importance  that  we  should  also  be  explicitly 
agreed  that  no  peace  shall  be  obtained  by  any  kind  of  compromise 
or  abatement  of  the  principles  we  have  avowed  as  the  principles 
for  which  we  are  fighting.  There  should  exist  no  doubt  about  it. 
I  am,  therefore,  going  to  take  the  liberty  of  speaking  w-ith  the 
utmost  frankness  about  the  practical  implications  that  are  involved 
in  it. 

If  it  be  in  deed  and  in  truth  the  common  object  of  the  gov- 
ernments associated  against  Germany,  and  of  the  nations  whom 
they  govern,  as  I  believe  it  to  be,  to  achieve,  by  the  coming  settle- 
ments, a  secure  and  lasting  peace,  it  will  be  necessary  that  all  ivho 
sit  down  at  the  peace  table  shall  come  ready  and  willing  to  pay 
the  price,  the  only  price,  that  ivill  procure  it;  and  ready  and  ivill- 
ing,  also,  to  create,  in  some  virile  fashion,  the  only  instrumentality 
by  which  it  can  be  made  certain  that  the  agreements  of  the  peace 
will  be  honored  and  fulfilled. 

132 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

"Impartial  Justice  is  the  Price  of  Peace/' 

The  price  is  impartial  justice  in  every  item  of  the  settlement, 
no  matter  whose  interest  is  crossed;  and  not  only  impartial  justice, 
but  also  the  satisfaction  of  the  several  peoples  whose  fortunes  are 
dealt  with.  That  indispensable  instrumentality  is  a  league  of  na- 
tions formed  under  covenants  that  will  be  efficacious.  Without 
such  an  instrumentality,  by  which  the  peace  of  the  world  can  be 
guaranteed,  peace  will  rest,  in  part,  upon  the  word  of  outlaws 
and  only  upon  that  word.  For  Germany  will  have  to  redeem 
her  character,  not  by  what  happens  at  the  peace  table,  but  by  what 
follows. 

And,  as  I  see  it,  the  constitution  of  that  League  of  Nations 
and  the  clear  definition  of  its  objects  must  be  a  part,  is  in  a  sense 
the  most  essential  part,  of  the  peace  settlement  itself.  It  cannot 
be  formed  now.  If  formed  now,  it  would  be  merely  a  new  alli- 
ance confined  to  the  nations  associated  against  a  common  enemy. 
It  is  not  likely  that  it  could  be  formed  after  the  setlement.  It  is 
necessary  to  guarantee  the  peace;  and  the  peace  cannot  be  guar- 
anteed as  an  afterthought.  The  reason,  to  speak  in  plain  terms 
again,  why  it  must  be  guaranteed,  is  that  there  will  be  parties 
to  the  peace  whose  promises  have  proved  untrustworthy,  and  means 
must  be  found  in  connection  with  the  peace  settlement  itself  to 
remove  that  source  of  insecurity.  It  would  be  folly  to  leave  the 
guarantee  to  the  subsequent  voluntary  action  of  the  governments 
we  have  seen  destroy  Russia  and  deceive  Rumania. 

But  these  general  terms  do  not  disclose  the  whole  matter. 
Some  details  are  needed  to  make  them  sound  less  like  a  thesis  and 
more  like  a  practical  problem.  These,  then,  are  some  of  the  par- 
ticulars, and  I  state  them  with  the  greater  confidence  because  I 
can  state  them  authoritatively  as  representing  this  government's 
interpretation  of  its  own  duty  with  regard  to  peace: 

Basis  for  a  League  of  Nations. 

First,  the  impartial  justice  meted  out  must  involve  no  dis- 
crimination between  those  to  whom  we  wish  to  be  just  and  those 
to  whom  we  do  not  wish  to  be  just.  It  must  be  a  justice  that 
plays  no  favorites  and  knows  no  standard  but  the  equal  rights  of 
the  several  peoples  concerned; 

Second,  no  special  or  separate  interest  of  any  single  nation 
or  any  group  of  nations  can  be  made  the  basis  of  any  part  of  the 
settlement  which  is  not  consistent  with  the  common  interest  of  all ; 

Third,  there  can  be  no  leagues  or  alliances  or  special  cove- 
nants and  understandings  within  the  general  and  common  family 
of  the  League  of  Nations; 

133 


AMERICANISM 

Fourth,  and  more  specifically,  there  can  be  no  special,  selfish 
economic  combinations  within  the  league  and  no  employment  of 
any  form  of  economic  boycott  or  exclusion  except  as  the  power 
of  economic  penalty  by  exclusion  from  the  markets  of  the  world 
may  be  vested  in  the  League  of  Nations  itself  as  a  means  of  dis- 
cipline and  control. 

Fifth,  all  international  agreements  and  treaties  of  every  kind 
must  be  made  known  in  their  entirety  to  the  rest  of  the  world. 

Special  alliances  and  economic  rivalries  and  hostilities  have 
been  the  prolific  source,  in  the  modern  world,  of  the  plans  and 
passions  that  produce  war.  It  would  be  an  insincere  as  well  as 
an  insecure  peace  that  did  not  exclude  them  in  definite  and  bind- 
ing terms. 

"No  'Entangling  Alliances.'" 

The  confidence  with  which  I  venture  to  speak  for  our  people 
in  these  matters  does  not  spring  from  our  traditions,  merely,  and 
the  well-known  principles  of  international  action  which  we  have 
always  professed  and  followed.  In  the  same  sentence  in  which 
I  say  that  the  United  States  will  enter  into  no  special  arrange- 
ments or  understandings  with  particular  nations,  let  me  say  also 
that  the  United  States  is  prepared  to  assume  its  full  share  of 
responsibility  for  the  maintenance  of  the  common  covenants  and 
understandings  upon  which  peace  must  henceforth  rest.  We  still 
read  Washington's  immortal  warning  against  "entangling  alliances," 
with  full  comprehension  and  an  answering  purpose.  But  only  special 
and  limited  alliances  entangle;  and  we  recognize  and  accept  the 
duty  of  a  new  day  in  which  we  are  permitted  to  hope  for  a  general 
alliance  which  will  avoid  entanglements  and  clear  the  air  of  the 
world  for  common  understandings  and  the  maintenance  of  common 
rights. 

I  have  made  this  analysis  of  the  international  situation  which 
the  war  has  created,  not,  of  course,  because  I  doubted  whether 
the  leaders  of  the  great  nations  and  peoples  with  whom  we  are 
associated  were  of  the  same  mind  and  entertained  a  like  purpose, 
but  because  the  air,  every  now  and  again,  gets  darkened  by  mists 
and  groundless  doublings  and  mischievous  perversions  of  counsel, 
and  it  is  necessary,  once  and  again,  to  sweep  all  the  irresponsible 
talk  about  peace  intrigues  and  weakening  morale  and  doubtful 
purpose  on  the  part  of  those  in  authority  utterly,  and  if  need  be 
unceremoniously,  aside,  and  say  things  in  the  plainest  words  that 
can  be  found,  even  when  it  is  only  to  say  over  again  what  has 
been  said  before,  quite  as  plainly,  if  in  less  unvarnished  terms. 

134 


WOODROW  WILSON  AND  THE  WAR 

No  Man  Formed  the  Issues  of  this  War. 

As  I  have  said,  neither  I  nor  any  other  man  in  governmental 
authority,  created  or  gave  form  to  the  issues  of  this  vi^ar.  I  have 
simply  responded  to  them  with  such  vision  as  I  could  command. 
But  I  have  responded  gladly  and  vv^ith  a  resolution  that  has  grown 
warmer  and  more  confident  as  the  issues  have  grown  clearer  and 
clearer.  It  is  now  plain  that  they  are  issues  which  no  man  can 
pervert  unless  it  be  wilfully.  I  am  bound  to  fight  for  them,  and 
happy  to  fight  for  them,  as  time  and  circumstances  have  revealed 
them  to  me  as  to  all  the  world.  Our  enthusiasm  for  them  grows 
more  and  more  irresistible  as  they  stand  out  in  more  and  more 
vivid  and  unmistakable  outline. 

And  the  forces  that  fight  for  them  draw  into  closer  and  closer 
array,  organize  their  millions  into  more  and  more  unconquerable 
might,  as  they  become  more  and  more  distinct  to  the  thought  and 
purpose  of  the  peoples  engaged.  It  is  the  peculiarity  of  this  great 
war  that  while  statesmen  have  seemed  to  cast  about  for  definitions 
of  their  purpose,  and  have  sometimes  seemed  to  shift  their  ground 
and  their  point  of  view,  the  thought  of  the  mass  of  men,  whom 
statesmen  are  supposed  to  instruct  and  lead,  has  grown  more  and 
more  unclouded,  more  and  more  certain  of  what  it  is  that  they 
are  fighting  for.  National  purposes  have  fallen  more  and  more 
into  the  background  and  the  common  purpose  of  enlightened  man- 
kind has  taken  their  place.  The  counsels  of  plain  men  have  be- 
come, on  all  hands,  more  simple  and  straightforward  and  more 
vmified  than  the  counsels  of  sophisticated  men  of  affairs,  who  still 
retain  the  impression  that  they  are  playing  a  game  of  power  and 
playing  for  high  stakes.  That  is  why  I  have  said  that  this  is  a 
people's  war,  not  a  statesman's.  Statesmen  must  follow  the  clari- 
fied common  thought  or  be  broken. 

I  took  that  to  be  the  significance  of  the  fact  that  assemblies 
and  associations  of  many  kinds  made  up  of  plain  workaday  people 
have  demanded,  almost  every  time  they  came  together,  and  are  still 
demanding  that  the  leaders  of  their  governments  declare  to  them 
plainly  what  it  is,  exactly  what  it  is,  that  they  were  seeking  in 
this  war,  and  what  they  think  the  items  of  the  final  settlement 
should  be.  They  are  not  yet  satisfied  with  what  they  have  been 
told.  They  still  seem  to  fear  that  they  are  getting  what  they 
ask  for  only  in  statesmen's  terms — only  in  the  terms  of  territorial 
arrangements  and  divisions  of  power,  and  not  in  terms  of  broad- 
visioned  justice  and  mercy  and  peace  and  the  satisfaction  of  those 
deep-seated  longings  of  oppressed  and  distracted  men  and  women 
and  enslaved  peoples  that  seem  to  them  the  only  things  worth 
fighting  a   war  for  that   engulfs   the  world.     Perhaps  statesmen 

135 


AMERICANISM 

have  not  always  recognized  this  changed  aspect  of  the  whole  world 
of  policy  and  action.  Perhaps  they  have  not  always  spoken  in 
direct  reply  to  the  questions  asked  because  they  did  not  know 
how  searching  these  questions  were  and  what  sort  of  answers  they 
demanded. 

But  Men  Must  State  the  Issues. 

But  I,  for  one,  am  glad  to  attempt  the  answer  again  and  again, 
in  the  hope  that  I  may  make  it  clearer  and  clearer  that  my  one 
thought  is  to  satisfy  those  who  struggle  in  the  ranks  and  are,  per- 
haps above  all  others,  entitled  to  a  reply  whose  meaning  no  one 
can  have  any  excuse  for  misunderstanding,  if  he  understands  the 
language  in  which  it  is  spoken  or  can  get  someone  to  translate  it 
correctly  into  his  own.  And  I  believe  that  the  leaders  of  the  gov- 
ernments with  which  we  are  associated  will  speak,  as  they  have 
occasion,  as  plainly  as  I  have  tried  to  speak.  I  hope  that  they  will 
feel  free  to  say  whether  they  think  that  I  am  in  any  degree  mis- 
taken in  my  interpretation  of  the  issues  involved  or  in  my  purpose 
with  regard  to  the  means  by  which  a  satisfactory  settlement  of 
these  isues  may  be  obtained.  Unity  of  purpose  and  of  counsel  are 
as  imperatively  necessary  in  this  war  as  was  unity  of  command 
in  the  battle  field;  and  with  perfect  unity  of  purpose  and  counsel 
will  come  assurance  of  complete  victory. 

It  can  be  had  in  no  other  way.  "Peace  drives"  can  be  effec- 
tively neutralized  and  silenced  only  by  showing  that  every  victory 
of  the  nations  associated  against  Germany  brings  the  nations  nearer 
the  sort  of  peace  which  will  bring  security  and  reassurance  to  all 
peoples  and  make  the  recurrence  of  another  such  struggle  of  piti- 
less force  and  bloodshed  forever  impossible,  and  that  nothing  else 
can.  Germany  is  constantly  intimating  the  "terms"  she  will  accept; 
and  always  finds  that  the  world  does  not  want  terms.  It  wishes 
the  final  triumph  of  justice  and  fair  dealing. 


136 


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